


Lost on the road of life

by RavenShira



Category: Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Naruto
Genre: Gen, Hatake Kakashi-centric, Jinchuuriki-centric, Jutsu Gone Wrong, Kakashi is a little shit, Kid Hatake Kakashi, Lots of Angst (and Humor), POV Alternating, POV Multiple, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Rokudaime Hatake Kakashi, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-11
Updated: 2019-04-15
Packaged: 2019-06-09 00:04:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 32
Words: 65,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15255009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RavenShira/pseuds/RavenShira
Summary: Kakashi had everything well in hand. He had stepped down from his reign as Rokudaime Hokage, his porn collection was as well worn as should be and his free time was spend with either Gai's challenges or helping out on various tasks while trying to make it seem like he wasn't there to help out. Annoying the hell out of everyone that crosses his path was as easy as breathing – easier now that he didn't have to be polite and diplomatic about it anymore.So what if he agreed to a teeny-tiny favour of his once student and now successor? Not even Naruto could mess up just scribbling down a fuinjutsu for Kakashi to check over before he got back to his own, very busy life.… Right?Or: The one where Kakashi travels back in time, thinks he can fix stuff but clearly gets in over his head.





	1. Not quite the Flying Thunder God technique.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm posting chapters as soon as I finish writing them. There may be some mistakes.  
> Also, no clue where I'm going here. I'm just taking you along for a ride!  
> I haven't decided on a pairing with Kakashi, or if there is even going to be a pairing. I'm open to suggestions but no promises.
> 
> My writing Playlist: [RavenShira on Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/user/ravenshira/playlist/47HMTQ6PYHsSOTOPMMw58Y?si=0MFItgY4T3OROifuogDYzA)

Kakashi was lazying about on the tree-branch. It was a good day for reading, the sun was warming him pleasantly through the rustling leaves as it slowly rose, making it's way to the zenith at a crawling pace. Down below Naruto was scribbling out a fuinjutsu seal on a large scroll. Every now and then, between flicks of his pages, Kakashi would glance down to see how much progress his once-pupil made. His eyes flickered over the smooth lines, careful strokes, then back to the small writing of his well-worn Icha Icha Paradise.

 

Soothing. This was hardly something Kakashi was needed for, but Naruto had asked him to help spot any errors. The blond man was trying to recreate his fathers Hiraishin no Jutsu. This once he wanted to make the seal as big as possible on a scroll, just to be sure that he wouldn't make any mistakes. Kakashi was one of the only people who had seen – and been able to study – the Hiraishin tag that Minato had wrapped around the handles of his thee-pronged kunai. With the Sharingan he had previously had, before it had been ripped out and replaced by his own eye, regrown due to whatever impossibility Naruto had pulled out of his sleeve at that point of time. Something about the Six Sage? Whatever. It was not like Kakashi needed it, even though it had helped him immensely in the past. The jutsus he had learned thanks to its abilities to copy movement and his eidetic memory were still quite well stored in his mental storage. It was a rather cramped library at this point, which by far overshadowed his... other collection.

 

Still, while he was knowledgeable about Fuinjutsu, it was by far not his best practice. If it had been anyone else – or even anything else – he would have refused. But if he could help Naruto figure this technique out at the end of the day, well... maybe it would make up a little for having been absent during the kids childhood. Orders or no orders, if things had happened differently, maybe Kakashi would have been an elder brother. Instead he had delved into ANBU, immersed himself so far in his bloody work that it was a miracle he had made it out halfway sane.

 

He hadn't really been allowed near Naruto otherwise. And even if he had tried – at least a little – to watch over the kid as Inu... it was not the same and not nearly enough. Maybe he had managed to dissuade a few civilians, but direct contact...? Yeah, not even as ANBU watching from the rooftop on the 10th of October had given him that, but at least he had sometimes made sure the kid was still alive.

 

It had still hurt to look at Naruto and not be reminded of his teacher.

 

A few years down the line he had become a teacher himself and by then... well. Too little, too late, wasn't it?

 

Watching Naruto grow into his own had soothed that hurt a bit. Maybe he was not the greatest teacher himself, his affinities not aligning much with the blond rascal, but he supposed it had turned out all right in the end.

 

A chuckle escaped him and he quickly turned a page, ignoring the accusing pout that was aimed at him from below.

 

“Yosh!” Naruto said, jumping to his feet and clapping his hands together in excitement. Curious Kakashi lowered the book a little to see over the edge of it. With a hum he slowly closed it and jumped down from the tree, slowly sauntering over to Naruto and the seal on the scroll spread on the ground. His eyes flickered over the lines again, trying to find a fault in the incredibly intricate design.

 

“Hum.” he said, then hesitated.

 

“It... looks good, but-” something niggling in the back of his mind. He narrowed his eyes, stepping closer just as Naruto eagerly flickered his fingers to activate the seal.

 

His eyes widened, his body instantly jumping forward to stop his once-student as he felt the build-up of way too much chakra loading the air like static.

 

“Wai-!” he tried to shout, too late. The only thing he managed was a shove at the black-orange shape, making Naruto fly back and hopefully out of range of whatever this thing was, a few lines just a little crooked and out of place combined with the amount of chakra could spell disastrous consequences. The next thing he felt was the black ink trailing over his body like wiggling snakes, chakra surrounding him in near stifling amounts, then immense pain of being ripped apart only to be put together and repeating the process over and over again. He didn't have air to even scream and no sense of time, it could have been a second or a day, or years for all he knew. The strain on his mind was almost too much, pain overshadowing everything and then...

 

Nothingness.

 

 


	2. The struggle to accept

Kakashi came to with a near silent, stifled gasp. His thoughts were muddled, pain radiating through his skull like a live-wire exposed to the elements. His body remained relaxed on instinct. ANBU had made sure that his first reaction to waking up in unfamiliar surroundings without acute memory of how he got there would not make him react before he gained some information as to what was going on. Instinctively his chakra spread out, trying to get a feel for his surroundings as he couldn't remember where he was. The chirping of birds, the smell of grass, trees and moss was not one he regularly woke up to without any memory of how he got wherever he was now.

 

Certainly not his bedroom.

 

Nor a hospital.

 

… right. He had... Naruto had tried to recreate the flying thunder god technique. With the amount of chakra used, he could be all the way over on the wrong side of the Land of Earth for all he knew.

 

Okay. Maybe not Land of Earth. It still smelled of the Land of Fire, so he couldn't be that far away. Repressing a wince, Kakashi allowed his eyes to open as a little slit, then blinked in surprise. And blinked again in mute shock.

 

“Looks like you've regained consciousness...!” the blond imposter said, relief and grief making an odd mix belying the calm tone. Despite the pain Kakashi sat up so abruptly, that his whole world tilted before he managed to regain balance by sheer force of will. Pain was singing along his nerves as he grabbed for a weapon, his fingers curling around a kunai, a snarl on his lips.

 

Minato – or the person trying to imitate him – watched Kakashi with wide, surprised and a little shocked eyes. Kakashi could see that one hand had dropped closely to his weapon-pouch, yet the enemy nin hesitated on drawing a weapon.

 

“Calm down, Kakashi. There is no-one around. You are safe.” Minato said as he straightened up from the slouched position of leaning against a tree. Kakashi blinked again, an uncomfortable itch in his left eye growing stronger by the second. This... this... what was this? A memory? Genjutsu? What purpose would it serve to play at being his dead teacher?  
  


“Where... where am I?” this all seemed too familiar, too close to memories best left in the past.

 

Minat- the Genjutsu or whatever it was frowned, looking over Kakashi as if he could discover the reason for the question before Minato sighed.

 

“We are still in Kusagakure.” the image of his once sensei replied wearily.

 

“I'm sorry, Kakashi... I couldn't make it in time.” the image raised a finger, pointing into the distance. Feeling hallow and wrong footed, Kakashi slowly turned and stared at Rin standing in the distance. A sense of deja vu so strong it nearly crippled him crashed down on him. This... all this resembled his memories of after Obito's death. Or what he had believed for the longest time to be his death. Only it was wrong, warped, just a little bit different enough to leave Kakashi reeling.

 

“Rin told me everything.” Minato sighed, he too was staring at Rin who was standing still on the field watching the stars. Or at least pretending to. Kakashi could see... he... he could see the half dried tear-tracks even from this distance, tiny trembles in her body that were withheld sobs. His sight had not been this sharp since...

 

Without conscious thoughts his fingers trailed to the scar on his face, shaking just the tiniest bit. Now that he was aware, he could feel the steady drain of the Sharingan.

 

“Obito...” his breath hitched. The world turned itself on it's head and didn't want to straighten again. He had the Sharingan. Because Obito sacrificed himself. Again.

 

And then Madara got his claws into him. Kakashi felt his pulse start to race, cold sweat breaking out all over his body. His pants were muffled by the mask, but a heavy hand on the nape of his neck made him flinch almost violently. Just as quickly Minato quickly snatched his hand away, holding it open in front of Kakashi as if to show him he was no threat.

 

“You need to calm down, Kakashi.” Minato tried to soothe him. But he didn't know, did he?  
  
Wait, all this... all this was in the past. Wasn't it? Fuinjutsu gone wrong, could it be a Genjutsu showing him his greatest failings? Or was it something else...?

 

Had they been attacked? Was this the deed of some enemy he hadn't seen coming?  
  


Or maybe... just maybe, was it possible that the space-time jutsu had gone so horribly wrong as to misplace Kakashi _ **in time**_?

 

It wasn't possible. It wasn't. It couldn't. This was so far out of the realm of possibilities that it was laughable if it wasn't so horrible.

 

But this fuinjutsu was _Naruto's_. If anything, Kakashi had learned that impossible just didn't exist when it came to the seventh Hokage.

 

And if, just maybe... if there was the tiniest possibility that this was real then...

 

Without thought Kakashi flipped his body around, crouching on the stone they were perched on as he wildly took in his surroundings, trying to place where they were and where **it** had happened. Even after all this time he recognized this place, knew where a boy was once crushed before archiving his dream so intimately that even now, years later he would probably find his way back there. How often had he dreamed of that awful day.

 

Now though only one thought invaded his mind.

 

_**Obito was alive.** _

 

He was alive, and Madara would get to him if Kakashi couldn't reach him first. Without a thought of his aching body Kakashi went from a stand-still into a full-out sprint. His muscles protested, didn't react as he expected to and didn't have either the strength needed, nor the stamina he was used to. But before he could even get that far, he was tackled to the ground by a far greater weight that the small amount of struggle his tired and overextended body couldn't put up enough of a fight to lift. And he tried so desperately, fingers like claws as he tried to use a jutsu, if he only replaced himself or got free long enough he could-

 

“-ashi!” a sharp slap to his face made him still for a moment, breathing heavily as he stared up at Minato's blurry face. The hand now rested on his face, the other one easily enveloping his tiny wrists. He felt dizzy, even though the slap hadn't been more than a love-tab. It wouldn't even bruise.

 

Too much air from too fast, small breaths. He was hyperventilating, his mind supplied calmly and that thought was enough to snap him out of it, at least a bit. A panicking shinobi, was a dead one after all.

 

“... let go...” Kakashi whispered, staring at Minato wide-eyed. He had to go. Any second now was wasted. If they went now they could still reach him, Minato could take him and they could save him from years of agony at the hand of a manipulative psychopath.

 

Not that he could say that to this Minato.

 

“Kakashi, there is nothing you can do.” Minato said, grief and resolve in his face. In the background Kakashi could see Rin's shocked face, she had run back when she had heard the commotion and her red-rimmed eyes made the guilt Kakashi felt ten times worse.

 

“I... I need to go back.” his voice was bleak, trying to convey just _how_ _important_ him going back to that place was.

 

“We can't just leave him there. We have to go back, we have to-”

 

“We can't, Kakashi. The enemy is swarming around the area and you two are in no state to fight.” - _and I can't protect you while fighting!_ was left unsaid but not unheard. Kakashi winced, it had been so, so long since he had been so helpless and weak and even longer since anyone had told him that straight to the face.

 

But it was true.

 

He wasn't an ANBU here.

 

He wasn't the retired Rokudaime Hokage here.

 

He was just a twelve year old kid playing at Jonin, with too many jutsus stuck in his head and not the strength or chakra to back most of them up. Never mind his current state of near death, exhaustion in both chakra and body.

 

Kakashi pressed his eyes closed. He took a pained breath, pulled in the emotions and breathed out. He wanted to cry, he wanted to rage and it was such a shift from his... his previous state of mind back in the future that it was world-shaking. Slowly he tugged at one hand and once Minato released him, Kakashi quietly dragged the hitai-ate down in an all too familiar gesture, the cloth settling over his friends eye in a practised motion that non the less broke Kakashi's heart a little.

Minato slowly moved away from him, body-language ready enough to quickly subdue Kakashi again should he try to run away again. Kakashi had the bad feeling that his sensei now thought him to be a flight risk. Not unreasonably, but certainly bothersome as it was in part true. Not that he wasn't loyal to Konoha, or wouldn't return but...

 

Memories of Naruto desperately going after Sasuke flashed before his eyes and maybe... maybe he owed his once-student an apology. He certainly couldn't imagine giving up on Obito, who hadn't even left them willingly. There were enough parallels between Sasuke getting taken by Orochimaru and Obito getting taken by Madara, both with a cursed seal no less, that Kakashi felt a helpless sort of rage at not being able to prevent it.

 

He sat up slowly under the watchful eyes of his team-captain. Hunching forward he put a hand over his covered eye, closing the other to shut out the dead people hovering in front of him.

 

If this was real... what should he do? Finding a way back into the future was nearly impossible. Kakashi wasn't even sure what had brought him here, besides a botched up fuinjutsu seal that he couldn't make heads of tails of how it could have gotten this horrible wrong (well, he knew who to blame **that** on), never mind how to reverse it.

 

He would have to make certain this was real, but deep down Kakashi already had a gut feeling that wouldn't leave him alone.

 

One thing was certain though. Once he had exhausted any option other than reality... and honestly, there were not a lot of options it could be (Genjutsu, sleep, the after-life, hell?)... once he had the opportunity he would hunt down Madara and rip him to pieces. Then take Obito and drag him back to the village.

 

He might not be Inu here.

 

He might not be ANBU or Rokudaime Hokage.

 

But he sure as hell could become Hound again, and his body would catch up to his skill. This time he would make it right.

 

Maybe if he thought of this as a mission it would work out. Save the world, one person at a time.

 

And yes, there was the possibility that he would fuck the world up in the process (a terrifying concept, he should buy himself an Icha Icha as soon as possible to calm his nerves in the turbulent times ahead), but if there was one thing he could make sure of it would be that team Minato didn't have only one member standing at the end of it.

 

“Alright...” hoarse he agreed to whatever Minato was saying, mind already gearing up to the challenge, plans changing and evolving, being discarded and recreated.

 

“... alright...” he clutched at the hitai-ate covering his eyes, his own settling on Rin. He had made a promise to Obito, one he would keep this time, to hell with the consequences.

 

After all, in the shinobi world, those that break the written and unwritten rules are deemed trash... but be that as it may...

Those that would disregard their comrades so easily are even worse than trash.

And those who don't have the decency to respect the memories of their comrades are the worst.

 

Kakashi wasn't planning on falling prey to the last two parts again.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, what do you know. Another chapter popped up! Hope you enjoyed it just as much as the first one :)


	3. Homecoming

The return to Konoha was a solemn affair. They didn't talk much and Kakashi was too deep in thought to make conversation himself. Not that conversing was his strong point, at least not if it wasn't for driving the other person as mad as possible in the shortest amount of time he could manage. Right now though, he was wondering how to act. Obito's death, while mourned, had happened the first time several years, and the last time just a few short years ago. He had mourned him, held on to the memory and he didn't think that would ever change. Except for the fact that Obito wasn't dead right now.

With no idea on where his friend was, Kakashi had reluctantly decided that returning to Konoha was the better option. There were some points in time where he had gained the knowledge that Obito would appear. It galled to have to wait but aside from raiding Obito's room so his Ninken would have a ready supply of Obito's scent, there really wasn't much he could do except search blindly. The next time Obito would be anywhere close to them would be at Rin's death. Not that Kakashi would allow Rin to die, this time he wasn't lost to depression and taking mission after mission to hide away from reality he couldn't face. So that would be the time when he had the chance to save Obito. After he had somehow saved Rin. Her not becoming a Jinjuriki would come a long way to preventing her untimely demise.

Still... it had been years after her death when Kakashi had finally gotten all the puzzle pieces that showed how far they had all been manipulated. By Madara and Zetsu and Kaguya. And the most disturbing fact was that for Obito to go mad, to abandon all hope in this world and turn against his village, against the world really, for that Rin had to die. And thus Madara had manipulated events that had led to Kakashi killing his friend, earning him the title friend-killer. He would much rather avoid gaining that moniker again.

 

Apparently he would have to see what he could do to prevent Rin from getting kidnapped. The problem was that Kiri-nin would target her specifically, and Kakashi would have to find a way around that. Already he had vague ideas, after all he had been on that mission with her and knew what would happen.

 

The problem was...

 

His gaze cut behind him, before quickly returning back to the front.

 

That.

 

Minato obviously thought he would do another runner. That was frustrating and mildly offending. He just hoped that his reaction hadn't changed too much and he would still be placed in the same team as Rin. And that nothing else would change before then. To be honest, it wasn't much of a hope since Kakashi didn't think he could act like he had before, when Obito died the first time. He had seen too much death, had already dealt with Obito's death for years and could already cope with it. The claws of depression that had sunk so deep into his mind after not only loosing Obito but short weeks afterwards Rin too had left scars that had scabbed over and healed badly. Obito's had reopened, bled and finally, like a bad break having been reset, it had started to heal once more.

 

When they entered the village and reported Obito's death, Kakashi was never more glad to wear a mask constantly. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and remained silent. He trudged along, bringing Rin back to her home before he followed Minato until they were supposed to depart at a crossing. He stopped and watched as Minato reached his door, Kushina opening with a smile that quickly fell. Obviously she could read on Minato's face that something had happened. Her gaze quickly cut to Kakashi, who ducked his head, lowering his gaze to the ground. He missed his book, which could hide him even more.

 

Kushina had been close to Obito. While she liked all of Minato's team, adored Rin and hackled Kakashi, Obito had clearly been her favourite, much more like a son than anything else. She hadn't taken his death well the first time around. While she hadn't been sent out much due to her Jinchūriki status, whenever she had encountered Iwa-nin, she had been merciless. The Bingo-Book from Iwagakure had a flee on sight order for her, as well as a very high bounty.

 

Kakashi let his shoulders slump. If he thought anyone would believe him, he would have told Kushina first. Not only would she be the most likeliest to readily accept such a far-fetched tale, but he would have liked to spare her the pain of loosing Obito after she had already lost Uzushio.

 

Slowly he started to walk again. Then he stopped once more, eyes wide open.

 

Where... where did he live again?

 

( ･_\\\\)ﾉ-≒≒≒≒≒≒≒≒≒≒⁂

 

 

“Is there a reason you are sitting outside your female teammates window, looking in, Kakashi?” a deceptively mild voice questioned. Kakashi didn't even flinch, nose buried in the book of fuinjutsu basics. So far there was nothing in it that would explain his existence here. No surprise.

“I've made a promise, sensei.” Kakashi muttered lowly, while he continued to read “I promised Obito that I would take care of Rin and keep her safe.” and this time he would do his best to keep that promise. And get Obito back.

Minato sighed, rubbing a tired hand over his face.

“Kakashi, listen...” for a moment his sensei seemed lost for words, before continuing “We are in Konoha. It's safe here and honestly, I don't think you can keep an eye on Rin day and night. You need sleep too.” Kakashi flipped a page and shrugged.

 

“I can manage.” he had his ninken after all. If he couldn't keep an eye on Rin, one of them would.

 

Minato grimaced slightly, obviously thinking much the same and that Kakashi was probably stubborn enough to pull through.

“Uh... alright, yeah, you probably can.” Minato grumbled to himself more than to Kakashi “but you do know how it looks like when people see you hanging out here?” awkward silence ensured. Valiantly Minato tried again “You can't stalk your teammate.”

 

Kakashi snorted, mostly because Minato sounded a lot like when Kakashi was training his ninken. Firm, trying to convince them to do things they would rather not.

 

“Don't worry so much, sensei.” Kakashi eye-smiled and waited for a moment until Minato almost looked relieved before he added: “I won't let anyone see me.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just came back from work an hour ago. Had this playing on my mind the whole day. Glad it's gone now. Enjoy!


	4. The struggle to adapt

 

 

Kakashi woke with a start, covered in sweat and Rin's dying voice in his ears. For a moment he was confused. Where was he? This wasn't his room, yet at the same time it had been. Already half sitting, his gaze quickly took in his surroundings, before he remembered that this was his apartment, had been for the longest time all through his ANBU years. His eyes fell back to his right hand that trembled uncontrollably, as it did back then, when the memories had dogged his steps into his waking moments. Quietly Kakashi got up and took the five steps it took him to reach the sink, his hands turning on the water on autopilot. It had been long, a really long time since that dream had returned in startling clarity. Being back in the past must have made it come back to the forefront of his mind. In practiced motions Kakashi scrubbed his hands, his eyes still seeing each blood speck ( _Rin'sbloodwarmthturningcoldandhisarmwas-)_ that had covered him nearly up to his elbow.

 

With a deep breath he turned the water off and stared at the water clinging to his skin. It had been such a long time and Kakashi could deal with the memories now better than before. But the memories wouldn't fade just because he was back in the past and even when he changed the happenings... at least to him, he had killed Rin once before. He wondered if it would affect his ability to fight, to be around her again. He was stronger now, faster, more experianced. Well, if he got his body up to his usual standards at least.

 

But maybe he would leave off from using Chidori while she was around. Once was enough to last a lifetime.

 

With a quiet sigh he dried off his hands and got ready to start his day. Pakkun was still out, he could feel the connection to his summons, so Rin was safe.

 

It was odd, being back in the village years previous. The Hokage Monument looked wrong every time he stared at it. Slowly he made his way out of his house and towards the market area. Even during the war, it was busy. The people were more subdued, hurrying along but the war hadn't reached too close yet for them to be too affected by it. After being through the forth shinobi war, this was almost cheerful in comparison. His eyes wandered back to the Hokage Monument, feeling the wrongness settle in as he studied the faces. He was used to seeing Tsunade, his own face and Naruto's staring back and it was startling whenever he found them missing instead. A reminder of what was yet to come, or who had yet to be born.

 

Another thing that was quickly becoming annoying: Kakashi didn't know where things were anymore. His favourite bar? Not established yet. The supermarket? A few buildings to the left. The shortcut he liked to take to the mission office? There was a house there. Kakashi quickly realized that he would have to get to know the village all over again, since the gradual changes over time (as well as the massive destruction that Pain had caused), had made the village unfamiliar to him. His only option was to take the rooftops to avoid being spotted walking around aimlessly and lost.

 

When he reached the market, he jumped down to the street, his hands reaching for his pocket only to come up empty. That needed to change. Decision made, his eyes quickly found the tiny store offering books and felt near giddy at the sight of the displayed, orange beauty sitting on a velvet-covered spot.

 

Without further hesitation his hand pushed the door open as he entered the small bookstore. His hands felt empty without the familiar weight he had carried around for longer than he had been alive in this timeline. Icha Icha Paradise must have just come out. He was surprised when the first thing he noticed upon entering was the red-haired kunoichi browsing through the shelves. She looked up, blinked at Kakashi in surprise and then offered a small smile. Clearly she wasn't back to her usual, cheerful self yet, Obito's death hitting her as hard as it did previously. Kushina slowly made her way over, crooking her head a bit.

 

“Kakashi-kun. What a rare sight!” she teased as he usually preferred to not immerse himself in places with a lot of other people. And okay, maybe he had stalked Rin and kept out of sight these past few days. He doubted Minato would tell his wife what his student was up to and was glad for it. Kushina wouldn't hesitate to get violent if she thought he was besmirching Rin's honor.

 

“Kushina-san.” he greeted in return, then let his gaze cut through the store. Bubbling guilt in his stomach kept him from outright looking in her face. He wasn't entirely sure he wouldn't spill the beans to her, about Obito being alive. Maybe dreaming of killing Rin had left him more unstable than he had thought.

 

“It is good to see you up and about, dattebane.” Kushina said “You should come for dinner one of these days.” her tone was so hopeful, that Kakashi couldn't help but nod in agreement, even if it was a little stiff. He wasn't sure how to act. He wasn't grieving and he didn't want to give her the impression that Obito's apparent death didn't affect him.

 

Suddenly her face was in front of his, her indigo-coloured eyes meeting his and a hand extended to him, pinky-finger sticking out.

 

“Promise?” she smiled, her gaze daring him to try and slip away.

 

Giving a weak chuckle, especially at her surprised look at his easy compliance, his pinky finger wrapped around her's. He felt a bit silly, childish even, but seeing her beam in response made that worthwhile. She stood up and he ducked away quickly, before she could get it in her head to try and squish him in a hug.

 

Pursuing the books in the book-store, Kakashi absently wondered if he would get his little genin-monsters back, or if he would change things too much. It worried him, yet he couldn't imagine trying to do everything over in the same way. Not only was it near impossible, since he couldn't keep up the act of his former self up even if he wanted to, simply because he no longer remembered every single day from his twelfth birthday onwards. He had changed too much, and didn't feel comfortable lying to his comrades more than necessary. Nor could he live with himself if he repeated his previous mistakes, all for a future where too many had died needlessly.

 

Still, the possibility of changing things too much and being the reason Konoha's twelve would never gather again, was a burden Kakashi would have to bear, if something he did prevented one of them from being born.

 

But if he managed to succeed...? And maybe, if he was lucky, all of them would be born, then he had created a better future for them. It was a goal worth striving for. With a few selfish desires interspersed. But he thought that they wouldn't begrudge him for trying it anways.

 

Mournfully, Kakashi looked at the orange book displayed in the window, itching to take it with him despite the looks he would get for being a twelve year old porn-reading kid. It would be worth it. Behind him he could practically feel Kushina's eyes tracking his movements and he aborted his plan, only to grab the book next to the Icha Icha. It was a near thing, but he valued his life. Later though, he would come back for it. Old enough to kill, old enough for porn, right?

 

Instead he stared distastefully at another fuinjutsu book. He had tried dispelling a genjutsu in his room, just in case so for now he would be taking a closer look at fuinjutsu. He already had a rudimentary understanding of it, from what he had learned from Minato and Jiraya, as well as later on on his own. He had been the one to help Anko with her cursed seal, and later tried with Sasuke. Maybe he should try picking Kushina's brain, who had been – and right now was – brilliant with Fuinjutsu in ways even her husband wasn't.

With a sigh he put the book, and a few more advanced ones in his bag to be paid for once he had everything he needed. Outside the window he could see Rin walk up to a vendor, studying the wares. In the shadow of the stand, a tiny pup with a blue jacket was scratching his head with a hindpaw.

 

At least he had finally figured out where he lived. After Minato had dragged him away from observing Rin and deposited him back in his tiny jonin-apartment. It was tiny, but Kakashi remembered he had moved here shortly after the Chuunin Exams. He had wanted some distance to his old home, where a dead man would hound him whenever he passed **that** door. Oh, the irony of that right now, while Kakashi was staring at his not-yet-dead teammate.

 

Yes, Kakashi decided as he placed his books on the counter to be paid. It was very odd, being back in time, surrounded by so many people he had seen die, others he had seen succeed, and then some that had faded into the background. Despite the war going on and the tired and drawn faces, Kakashi was at times bewildered whenever he saw someone else he had long since buried, or content.

 

He had also quickly remembered that at this age, smiling hadn't been a thing he was used to do. Minato looked all the more freaked out the more often Kakashi eye-smiled at him. Honestly, Kakashi knew why. They had just lost Obito, and Kakashi smiling was really not an appropriate response. But how could he not feel happy when his sensei was alive, Kushina was pummeling some poor sod that had become a bit too grabby with her and so many other people were suddenly back from the dead.

 

With a sigh, Kakashi prepared for a mental evaluation sooner rather than later.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kakashi, you can't stalk your teammates!! D:
> 
> ... I kinda want to make Kushina aware of Kakashi's new hobby. But then he would need a visit to the hospital....


	5. The mission

In the following days, dreaming of Rin's death became a common occurrence again, as if a switch in his brain had been flipped, making him repeat the event over and over again. His ritual of washing his hands was an old one that he still abided by, unable to not feel the slimy warmth of red blood cooling on his skin. Even before he had gained the Sharingan, Kakashi's memory had been impeccable, but back then memories had the chance to soften, blur and heal. Like pieces of glass in the sea, sand slowly eroding the edges away until it was smooth and milky with age. It was years before he realized that the Sharingan would keep every single memory he witnessed crystal clear until the end of time. Where before he hadn't covered it up much, especially during missions, after that revelation he had only uncovered it in emergencies. By that time he had accumulated enough horrors his mind would never allow him to forget.

After all, the drain of the normal Sharingan wasn't that much. He had lived his years through ANBU with it mostly in use, the ANBU mask making it near impossible to cover it up without hindering him if he needed it.

Kamui was another thing entirely, draining a huge amount of his chakra reserves whenever he dared to use it. It was only in his later years that he had trained to use it. He hadn't tried yet, mostly because his chakra reserves were not big enough and he didn't fancy explaining to his sensei why he had landed himself in the hospital from chakra exhaustion.

With a soft sigh he turned off the water, dried his hands and got ready to start his day.

 

Kakashi much preferred to be outside of his small apartment that really only consisted of a room that functioned as kitchen, eating space and sleeping space in one go, with a tiny bathroom attached. It was bare, as Kakashi had never really collected many unnecessary things. Only in his later years had he kept some souvenirs his friends had brought. He had gotten a larger flat when he became Hokage. Still modest, but closer to the heart of the village. He'd even had a guest room, though it had rarely if ever in use. Mostly it was for Naruto or Sakura, who had had the habit of dropping in unannounced and refusing to leave. It was simpler to confine them in a different room. If a little hilarious, because they had gotten as close as siblings. Naruto had let go of his crush and Sakura was too used to keeping Naruto in line. It was adorable as it was frightening. And startling as in how much he missed his future students.

 

Currently though, in his apartment was only one personal detail: The photo of him, Rin and Obito, carefully pinned to a wall. His fingers reached out to brush against it's edges for a moment, lingering close to Obito's for a moment.

 

“You are late... and Rin is waiting.” he murmured, tiredly rubbing his own eye.

 

The rest of the apartment was spartan, weapon, clothes and necessities the only things filling the shelves that had been pushed to the walls. There were two boxes, seals carefully surrounding them and hidden on the lower part of the shelve. Within them were some items Kakashi had... well. Borrowed, stolen, misappropriated? From Obito's room. He had been careful not to leave his own scent on them too much, trying to preserve Obito's as much as possible for his ninken. Who knew if he would have to use them to track down his friend? Just in case, it was better for his Ninken to have a supply ready to refresh their memory.

 

He was lucky that his pack seemed to remember the future as well, summons living in another place and apparently they had somehow transferred over, with whatever stunt Naruto had pulled.

Tiredly Kakashi rubbed the nape of his neck as he left the apartment. Currently one of his Ninken was watching over Rin, so he could use the time to get something to eat and train his body.

What a drag, it had been ages since he had to train to get his body in a better shape instead of just keeping it in top shape. Training it up was always less fun. But with Madara pulling strings in the background, Obito's life on the line and Zetsu out there somewhere planning, Kakashi really couldn't afford to not be at his best.

 

Good thing he could multi-task.

 

( ･_\\\\)ﾉ-≒≒≒≒≒≒≒≒≒≒⁂

 

Kakashi was hanging upside down on a tree-branch, doing pushups in reverse. Only the very tips of his toes, as well as his one finger were connected to the tree, keeping him from falling. His other arm was pressed against his lower back. He would slowly pull himself up to the branch he was hanging from, before equally slowly going back down following gravity. It was a chakra control exercise as well as physical training, and could be done while keeping watch over Rin. Sweat was cooling his skin in the night-air and somewhere above him he could hear Minato sigh in exasperation. After finding Kakashi in front of the Nohara residence several nights in a row, Minato clearly wasn't surprised to finding Kakashi here anymore, even if he wasn't happy about it.

 

“Don't you think that's a bit much?” his sensei asked, dropping down to the branch Kakashi was training on, making it shake precariously for a few seconds.

 

“Hum? What do you mean?” Kakashi asked in a bored voice as he drew closer to the branch again, with Minato peering down at him from his crouched position.

 

“The watching over Rin, the excessive training... you are only twelve Kakashi, there is no need to go to such lengths.” Minato worried, that much was plain to see even in the near darkness.

 

“I'm bored. And I like training.” it alleviated his nightmares at least a little. Or maybe he was simply avoiding them, taking short naps instead whenever he felt he required them. It was all he had left, back when he had found his father dead in his home. Training and missions, missions and training. Minato had been the only one who could draw him out a little, making him partake in dinners and team bonding exercises. Clearly Minato feared that Kakashi was retreating back to his former anti-social way of barely stopping to eat and sleep. With a sigh Kakashi gripped the branch and carefully twisted his body up, until he was crouching in front of his sensei.

 

“I'm fine.” he said seriously, despite knowing it wouldn't be believed. A hand carefully settled on his head, rustling his hair gently in a familiar-unfamiliar way. It had been way too long since anyone... since Minato had done that to him. Minato had been the only one that had dared after his fathers death, and it settled something warm in Kakashi's chest.

 

“You don't have to be fine, you know that, right?” Minato asked and Kakashi wished he could make his sensei stop worrying so much.

 

“I know. I promise I am looking after myself.”

 

Minato studied Kakashi for a long moment, then let out a heavy sigh of the weary. He looked troubled, but nodded and settled down to watch Kakashi continue training with a frown.

 

Kakashi threw a last, suspicious look at his sensei – that had been way too easy – then slowly returned to hanging from the branch, this time from his other arm and continuing his pushups.

 

( ･_\\\\)ﾉ-≒≒≒≒≒≒≒≒≒≒⁂

 

 

A scroll dropped from Minato's hand into Kakashi's. Befuddled Kakashi stared at it. He couldn't remember this happening before, and he really didn't like that. Changes to the timeline that had so far seemed to go on just as he could remember didn't bode well for him. A bit unsure and hesitant, he raised his head until he looked at Minato, a heavy feeling like a rock settling in his stomach.

 

“This is...?” he questioned despite knowing the answer already and dreading it.

 

“A mission.” Minato replied calmly. With clammy hands Kakashi gripped the scroll tighter, slowly opening it to read the missive hidden within.

 

“You and two other jonin are to provide backup to the south-western border and bring back intel.” Minato explained as Kakashi raised his head and continued staring at him in mute horror. Clearly he also misunderstood as he continued in a softer tone.

 

“You are not there to fight in the front-lines. This is a resupply and information gathering mission. The only reason we are sending Jonin is because it's so close to the border, so you need to be careful.” A quick mission then. One trip there, to restock the supplies, then quickly back to give intel of the fight to the Hokage or whoever was in charge. This would be an easy mission Kakashi would have simply shrugged and finished as required, if only the timing wasn't so, so inconvenient.

 

Next his sensei held out his hand again, this time one of his three-pronged kunai's dangled from the tip of his finger.

 

“Take this. If you are in serious trouble, I will try my best to be with you as soon as I can.”

 

Kakashi mutely grabbed the knife, staring at it, his head swimming a little from the sudden shift of reality. This hadn't happened. He wasn't supposed to leave the village for any major missions until his rescue mission for Rin. That mission was only a few days off and the border... the border was at least three days away.

 

His heart pounded frantically in his chest.

 

“S-sensei... I... I can't-” wide eyed he stared up at Minato, struggling for words “I have to...” the look his sensei gave him, stern and unmoving made him snap his mouth shut. He stood straighter, trying to find a reason to abandon the mission, before admitting defeat and trying it with the honest truth instead: “What about Rin?”

 

And then it hit him why this change was happening.

 

“You need to learn to let her go, Kakashi.” Minato said with remorse “You are running yourself ragged and you cannot watch over her for the rest of your life.” A hand settled carefully, yet unbearably heavy on his head. Kakashi stared at Minato's regretful, yet determined expression and felt the world crumble a little bit.

 

“You'll see. When you get back, she will be waiting.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My, my, Kakashi. Didn't expect that, did you?
> 
> ¯\\_( ◉ 3 ◉ )_/¯


	6. Race against time

Kakashi was in a bad mood. It was early morning, so early in fact that dawn was still quite some time away.

That wasn't really the reason why he was in a bad mood. No.

 

Kakashi was early.

 

While he didn't have the reputation of being late in this timeline (yet), Kakashi just couldn't fathom being early, yet here he was. Early. About an hour or two too early, _waiting_ for his teammates.

Kakashi pulled a frustrated hand through his hair. He knew why he was early, after all he was on a time-limit to get back to the village and the earlier they could start, the better. So here he was.

 

Waiting.

 

When his teammates finally, came, Kakashi's bad mood had descended into outright glaring. Rationally he knew his teammates were actually on time.

 

“Mah, aren't you an eager one?” one Jonin that introduced himself as Kuboro – a tall, muscled man with dirt-blond hair and a scar that went from his temple to his cheek, just missing his eye – questioned, wincing a little when Kakashi turned to glare at him. Yukairi – a kunoichi with reddish-brown hair and a standard Jonin uniform – put a hand on his shoulder and looked Kakashi up and down, as if measuring him.

 

“We've heard of you.” she softly said, smiling “I major in Genjutsu and Kuboro uses mainly Taijutsu styles. I think you will fit right in.” as a Ninjutsu specialist Kakashi did indeed complement the team. Maybe they had lost a member, or maybe their teammates were not yet of the right rank to accompany them.

 

Rationally could go to the moon for all that Kakashi cared, he had places to be and without further ado – he had at least already gotten the supplies that needed to be delivered and signed them out of the village – they were off. If Kakashi subtly increased their speed every now and then, making his teammates slowly but surely speed up as well, well... If they didn't notice themselves, it could hardly be a strain on their system.

Though he had to stop that once one of his teammates – Yukairi – struggled to keep up. By his estimate, they would still save about half a day if they could keep it up.

 

It wasn't much.

 

It would have to be enough.

 

( ･_\\\\)ﾉ-≒≒≒≒≒≒≒≒≒≒⁂

 

Two and a half days later a very tired team arrived at the designated checkpoint.

 

And then he lost the little time he had managed to save, because a small skirmish broke out. Kaboro and Yukairi and himself were pulled ordered to help out by the commander, despite it not being their mission.

 

When it was over and they had a small break (Kakashi was ready to climb walls at that point), they were finally summoned to the Jonin commander that was overseeing the checkpoint. After getting handed a missive to take back to the Hokage they were dismissed and started to head back.

 

Kakashi was frustrated that they wouldn't go quicker. The scroll had been given to him as he was the youngest Jonin, and if anything happened, he was supposed to make haste for the village.

 

As luck would have it, their just-in-case plan was needed sooner than later when on the end of the first day of their way back, Kiri-nin ambushed them.

 

( ･_\\\\)ﾉ-≒≒≒≒≒≒≒≒≒≒⁂

 

He had been careless. Stupid, stupid and careless and now there was a deep kunai-wound in his side, bleeding heavily but luckily not life threatening. Frustrated Kakashi bit through his lips as he carefully pulled the needle through his skin, and back out in a repetitive motion. He didn't have the time for this. Five days ago the mission had started and his teammates had made good progress, but not nearly quickly enough for Kakashi's tastes. It was as if he could feel a clock ticking the seconds away, crawling ever closer to Rin's death with him preoccupied with a mission he wasn't even supposed to be on. When they had finally reached the checkpoint and unloaded the sealing scrolls and other things they had been send out to be delivered, he had wanted to bash some heads in to make things go quicker. It took ages for a Nin to appear and give them a missive to return to the village, by then another half-day had gone by.

And to top it off, they had been ambushed on the way back. How Kiri-Nin had gotten past the checkpoint was a mystery, but it showed that they were already moving, that time to save Rin was slowly but surely running out. He had panicked. And he had made a mistake and now he had a god damn stab wound to fix and a missive scroll to take to the village. His teammates had gone to tag-team the enemy, distract them, kill them. As jonin's themselves, Kakashi had to trust that they knew what they were doing. Kakashi, as the smallest and by far the fastest out of them all, was supposed to run ahead and bring the vital information – as well as the details of the ambush back to the village post haste. Something Kakashi was glad for, as he could speed up as much as he wanted, infusing chakra into his legs to go faster, without tearing his not yet fully trained or grown muscles.

 

No, Kakashi really didn't mind speeding back to the village, but the stab wound kinda did.

 

The mission-scroll was a heavy weight in his pockets. Information his village needed, about Iwagakure's movement and strength. He was fast, but that was only the case when he was not slowly bleeding out from a wound that reopened again and again due to his movements. He had to get back. He needed to be there for the mission that got Rin killed. His every plan hinged on being there to protect her, murder every single enemy. Non of them would expect Kakashi, stronger than he was back then by far. He had trained nearly day and night in anticipation of this day and a measly stab wound would not deter him. With a low whine he slabbed a bandage on the stitched wound and nodded to himself. Good enough, for now. Stubbornly he heaved himself back to his feet, the first few steps were shaky and and extremely painful until he found a pace that kept from jostling the wound too much. A soldier pill gave him back some energy, a food pill refilled some of his lagging resources after days without much, if any sleep. With a single minded purpose he ran. Through the night and most of the day and into the night, nearly without break. He was already cutting it too close. Sweat was covering his whole body, sight wavering in and out of tunnel-vision when he finally reached familiar gates. The gate-keepers startled at his appearance, someone was shouting for a medic and another nin rushed and came back with some water. Blinking, Kakashi could see Gai's face swimming in front of him.

 

“Drink!” his once-long-time-rival said, nearly choking Kakashi as he tried to force him to drink. Kakashi shoved the bottle away after a few gulps, his body shaking from overstrained muscles. He would recover, and then go on the mission with Rin.

 

Then suddenly Minato was crouching next to him, hand smoothing away his sweat soaked hair, carefully checking him over. His gaze lingered on the patch of a bandage, already soaking through red.

 

“K-Kiri... ambush...” Kakashi said, blinking as Minato's face split into two more clones, before coming back together as one like a kaleidoscope.

 

“R- ... -in...?”

 

“Safe and sound...” his teacher whispered and with those words Kakashi finally allowed himself to relax a little. His eyes felt heavy. Kakashi knew he had overdone it, running without break and using so much chakra to keep going. All he needed was a few hours of rest. Just a few hours. Then he would be back on his feet, and could go with Rin and get Obito back.

 

“You just rest up, Kakashi. Good job.” was the last thing he heard before he fell unconscious under his teachers troubled eyes.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Currently trying to see how long I can keep up the day updates. I fear it will not be much longer, especially since I have a pretty exhausting week coming up :(
> 
> My, my Kakashi. Don't worry Minato so much!


	7. The road to hell...

Waking up was a strange affair. Still feeling drained, it took a while for him to notice his surroundings. Clean, sterile white walls and the overpowering scent of illnesses, iodine and chemicals was overpowering to Kakashi's sensitive nose.

 

Hospital. Urgh.

 

It took a few more moments until Kakashi recalled why he was in the hospital this time. And that he really didn't have the time to laze about.

A quick gaze to the window showed that the sun was only just rising, and Kakashi felt his shoulders drop a little. He couldn't have been out too long then.

 

With careful movements he slowly got up, testing his limbs on autopilot. His legs felt a little stiff and his side was itching from a chakra-healed stab wound, still a bit tender but already on the mend. He must have had a good medic nin.

 

His chakra levels were a bit too low for Kakashi's comfort. But they would fill up over time so it wasn't something to worry about. His things had been placed in the wardrobe, and quietly he pulled on his weapons, feeling a lot more like he was dressed and ready. He felt naked without any weapons on his person, vulnerable in ways that made him deeply uncomfortable. Years of being send on S-class missions could invoke a healthy dose of paranoia.

 

Slipping on some new clothes someone must have prepared for him (how considerate), Kakashi dressed quickly the rest of the way, then opened the window. No reason to wake any medics that would only needlessly fuss and confine him into bed longer than he needed to. No, better get out of their way. Surely they had better things to do, other people to tend to. Yes, yes.

 

Landing with only a small wince, Kakashi quickly evacuated the area. Without conscious thought his feet took him to the Nohara residence.

 

Only... Rin was not in her bed, and her calender was clearly on the wrong date, as it showed two days later than the day Kakashi could remember falling unconscious on.

 

( ･_\\\\)ﾉ-≒≒≒≒≒≒≒≒≒≒⁂

 

For all of five seconds Kakashi contemplated how bad it would be if someone caught him sneaking into Rin's room when it was still mostly night-time. Then he shrugged and opened the window anyways to silently slip into his teammates room. He was lucky her father – a shinobi himself – was out of the house or he would likely have a very outraged Jonin after his blood. Her mother was a civilian and wouldn't notice his presence if he was careful. Looking around he quickly observed that Rin had taken her weapons and typical gear for missions with her.

Rubbing a hand tiredly over his face Kakashi let out a small, stressed sigh. Then his head rolled back until he was staring at the ceiling trying to keep the bubbling frustration at bay. Right.

 

So.

 

This was how his life as a missing nin started, huh?

 

Well, at least he hadn't done _that_ one before. Could be interesting, Kakashi thought while rubbing the back of his head. Or troublesome, as a Nara would say it.

They wouldn't let him out of the village without a reason, and simply up and leaving during wartime was as close to desertion as it could get. Not to mention that Kakashi at this point of time was only known as a genius, student of the Yond- no, student of the Yellow Flash and wasn't very well liked by most of the population, be it ninja or civilians. Ninjas at least mostly respected him for his talent, while civilians mostly kept away.

 

There was also the stain on his family name that his father had left behind, while it was four years into the past, it did still affect Kakashi's life and was still spoken about. His father had saved his teammates, but at the cost of the mission objective. It had been an important trade contract, and the fallout of this mission gone wrong was that in the beginning years of the war, food had been scarce. The man had instead made a contract with their enemy. If it had only been food that was traded, that would have been bad enough. But the little town that owned the large fields also was a very defensible point, near the border and an information hub. It had been a great loss, that many people had vilified his father for. After some years, once Kakashi had made his own name, his father's memory would be almost forgotten to anyone but him. Either because people had died, or simply because nobody dared to speak about the White Fang to Kakashi of the Sharingan. Not even history in the Academy mentioned his father. Right now though he was still under scrutiny and without his reputation... well. Expendable. The council didn't like him and thought him unstable. The only reason he had not had an unfortunate accident and went missing on a mission before was because he had the favour of the Hokage, and had quickly risen in rank and made himself useful.

 

Still, Danzo at least wouldn't let that stop him from pushing for Kakashi's death, if only so he could get the Sharingan all that much sooner. Or he would campaign to have Kakashi added to his roster.

 

This was... tricky. And not something Kakashi wanted to do. There were things he had to change, and being in a village with the backup it provided, not to mention being near the people he wanted to protect, well, that would have been easier. But the consequences of Rin's death repeating itself...

 

No. No he had made a promise and this time he would damn well keep it.

 

So. Missing nin it was. He probably should avoid capture and simply work from the outside until Minato became Yondaime. Then he would see if returning wasn't possible, preferably with Obito in tow.

 

Minato would be sad.

 

Rin would cry.

 

But they would be alive and everything else could be negotiated.

 

( ･_\\\\)ﾉ-≒≒≒≒≒≒≒≒≒≒⁂

 

Kakashi ruefully thought, that if Minato could see him now, he would probably wash his hands off him. In a last bid to hopefully alleviate the possibility of being branded as a traitor (really, that was not the reputation he wanted to be known for either, the Hatake name would never recover), he was once more breaking into the room one of his long-ago class-mates. Carefully balancing on the windowsill, he quickly unlocked the window with a bit of ninja-wire and creative use of chakra before slipping the window open and leaning forward. He quickly ducked the kunai that was being stabbed at him, grabbing the wrist and twisting the hand back until they came to a standstill.

 

“Yo!” he eye-smiled at a pale Raido, who was wearing his pyjama and seemed to be about to scream the roof down, before he recognized Kakashi. Then his head quickly purpled in rage.

 

“What the _actual_ _ **fuck**_ , Kakashi!” Raido hissed, wrenching his hand free.

 

“Are you crazy? Do you know what time it is?! I thought you were going to kill me! I tried to _kill_ _ **you**_!”

 

Chuckling, Kakashi settled back a little until he was more balanced, crouching in the window.

 

 

 

 

“Mah, mah. Sorry, but I'm in a hurry. Give this scroll to Minato in the morning for me, would you? Didn't want to wake him up, gotta go!” he said, throwing the scroll at Raido's head and letting his body drop backwards out of the window. He heard a dull thud, then furious whispers of “I was sleeping too!” and “Damn him”, before he quickly made his way off. Raido was a serious person. He wouldn't forget to bring the scroll to Minato, no matter how angry he was at Kakashi. In it he had explained that during the ambush of his last mission, he overheard Kiri-nin talking about kidnapping one of Minato's students and a quick message that he was going after Rin to bring her back, and that he had Minato's special kunai with him. Backup would be appreciated.

 

He was sure Minato would throw a fit – but only after he had saved Rin and Kakashi both. With this maybe he would only get punished, yet he could hopefully return to the village. It was the only quick solution he could find. Of course he could wake someone, but in the time it would take to assemble a team, get the mission approved, before heading out, it could already be too late. No, Kakashi knew it would be too late. He wasn't entirely sure if he could make it in time himself, but if he used his top speed...

His hastily written message had taken nothing more than a few minutes (he would replace the empty scroll he had stolen from Rin's desk at a later point), and now he only had to get past the gate and the patrols.

 

He wasn't sure how he would explain knowing where Rin was headed. He could use the same excuse as before, having overheard a Kiri-nin mention kidnapping her and about where it would happen.

 

Rin's mission was an easy one, that was deep in the fire country. It's why they hadn't been prepared for what happened the last time, as about thirty Kiri-nin had invaded their country without detection (something Kakashi was sure Madara had helped with). Her mission was to gather medical herbs needed to treat patients. If things had remained the same, then Rin would have two other Chunin medic-nin with her, as well as a Jonin. He himself had been on a mission nearby, when he had heard about her kidnapping. His team had readily agreed to help save her, even though they had been injured. That's why Kakashi had, in the end, gone on alone to rescue Rin.

 

Just as he would now. He had quickly raced home to restock his weapons supply, and then he he was off. Sneaking past the patrol was easier than Kakashi had thought it would be. Then again, Kakashi was so intimately familiar with all the rotations (he had had to know these things as a Hokage after all), as well as coming from the inside instead of the outside, that he got passed them quickly enough to be paranoid about it. There was a war going on, even if it was far away and if he somehow got accepted back, he would have to talk to the Sandaime about the lack of attention the guards had shown.

 

Once far enough away to avoid attracting attention, Kakashi bit his thumb smeared his blood all over a familiar scroll before he slammed it on the ground.

 

“Ninpou: Kuchiyose!” he whispered and a small brown pup appeared in front of him

 

“Yo, Kakashi.” the Pakkun greeted, lifting a paw to scratch his head.

 

“What's up?”

 

“Mah, the usual. Hope you don't mind relocating, there is a slight possibility we might have to do a Sasuke.” Pakkun's eyes widened “I need you to come with me, tell me if you pick up Rin's scent. I know the general area she should be but the sooner I find her, the better.” Kakashi explained, already getting up from the ground and starting to run. Pakkun easily kept pace, even if he threw Kakashi an incredulous glance every now and then. Great. Even his ninken were starting to question his sanity.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Added a picture in chapter 4. Thought it fit :) I might add more if I find good ones for my chapters. You are welcome to suggest some too!
> 
> Anyways, this chapter got a bit long so I split it. I think I prefer to keep with shorter chapters, if only because then I can actually try and update sooner rather than later. I have ideas on how to proceed, I just need to get it on paper now :/ If only there were more hours in a day!
> 
> P.S.: What do you guys think about Kakashi (unwillingly, mind you!) acquireing a pet? Care to guess what he might get? 
> 
> (((o(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)o)))


	8. ... is paved with good intention

In the end, Kakashi didn't need Pakkun to tell where Rin was. Thanks to his heightened senses he could hear the sound of battle long before he got his first view of what was happening. Usually he would have hung back and observed the situation first, maybe send in a shadow clone before engaging the enemy himself. Light was just creeping over the land as the sun slowly rose to greet the world, but any bird or animal had already fled the area.

 

His low chakra-reserves, the exhaustion from running so long after only been out of the hospital for a short time (and without being officially released) only added to the jittery feeling of being too late. Again. He didn't think he would deal with it well this time around. Hell, he hadn't dealt with it well the first time around, but if he managed to fuck it up a second time around... with foreknowledge of the event happening? No, Kakashi probably wouldn't be able to live with himself, even though duty would probably keep him alive for some time.

 

For once his Sharingan was uncovered, already taking in the battle (could it be called that?), before the enemy completely registered his presence. Rin's team was already under attack. The Jonin was dead and another Chunin laid dismembered a few feet away. Rin was pale from shock, another Chunin crouching in front of her badly hurt. Her hands shook, but even then they hovered over his back glowing a steady green as the enemy circled them.

 

Taking all this in took a mere fraction of a second. Another was drawing the three kunais and fuinjutsu tags and throwing them with deadly accuracy at the Kiri-nin that was only just approaching, leering at Rin. Kakashi felt grim satisfaction as one of the kunai buried itself straight into his right eye, making him stumble back from the force of the throw even as he died instantly. The other two missed and struck the ground a few paces behind him. Another jump and Kakashi slashed his tanto – not his fathers since that one broke but his own – at his enemy, one of them jumping away, the other gaining a deep gash on his side as Kakashi dashed past.

 

A quiet hiss started.

 

Hiissssssss...

 

Five seconds.

 

A small chain of hand-signs Kakashi knew by heart.

 

… ssssssssss …

 

A step as the world rushed past.

 

“Shunshin.” Kakashi whispered as he landed crouched by Rin's side.

 

… ssssssssss …

 

Rin was flinching away in surprise, even as Kakashi grabbed her by her elbow and the Chunin by his vest and pulled. Making them both stumble a step back – or in the Chunin's case have a rough landing on the ground behind Kakashi.

 

… ssssssssss …

 

Another fraction of a second.

 

Another chain of hand-signs and Kakashi slammed his hands on the ground.

 

… ssssssssss-

 

“Doton: Doryuheki!”

 

The world exploded, just as the ground rose in front of him to shield him and his comrades. The explosion rattled the earth, throwing dust and stone up until it was hard to see or breath. Kakashi had his mask up, but the enemy were distracted, disoriented and hopefully hurt. Kakashi didn't plan on waiting around to find out how many had managed to dodge his attack. The mud wall had taken some of his chakra and he knew he couldn't risk a prolonged fight. He had planned to be in his best condition, now he was barely functioning.

 

Not waiting for the dust to settle, he twisted around and grabbed Rin around her waist. She let out a squeak as she landed roughly on his shoulder, coughing as the air was driven out of her but Kakashi had no time to be gentle right now. His other hand grabbed the Chunin – the other thing Kakashi hadn't accounted for – and heaved him under his arm. He struggled as his adult mind tried to catch up with his child's body, remembering that maybe he still had some growing up to do before he could easily lug around people again.

 

“Hold tight, Rin!” he ordered, voice sharp as his hand released her. He made it. He made it just in time!

 

Gritting his teeth under the extra weight, Kakashi felt her hands grip tightly to the straps over his back. To shunshin away with three people required a lot more chakra than if he simply used it for himself, but he needed to gain some distance. He needed to get them out, or getting here in time would have been for naught.

 

They appeared just behind the tree-line, while the dust from the explosion tags Kakashi had used begun to settle. He had run in the opposite direction from Konoha, because surely the enemy would expect them to run closer to home, instead of further away. The Kiri-nin had scattered, but they were already recovering and swarming out, searching. Kakashi swallowed a growl. They weren't far enough away. There were still too many people and the explosion had only killed 3 and injured a few others. He wasn't fast enough while carrying two people. And Rin wasn't fast enough to outrun the enemy, never mind the Chunin who clearly needed medical help if he wanted to live another day.

 

Quickly he set Rin down on the ground, then carefully laid out the Chunin on the ground. An unfamiliar face, one that had probably died the first time around. Already Kakashi had been too late to save the Jonin's and the other Chunin' life, but this one could yet live.

 

Without having to ask, Rin was already kneeling down, her hands glowing green as she started to heal the Chunin once more. A deep gash ran from his shoulder, all the way across his chest, digging deep where his stomach was. Muscles had been ripped and Kakashi winced. If Rin could stabilize him, then he would have a chance to survive and one hell of a recovery.

 

If they survived.

 

Kakashi gripped the bridge of his nose, hearing straining and already noticing that people were getting closer. Pressing his lips into a thin line, Kakashi decided that Rin would need a bit longer to save the guy. For a calculating, short second Kakashi contemplated saving her, and her alone, but... not at the price of abandoning someone else. Not anymore. Not a comrade.

 

His hands settled into a Ram-sign. Shadow clone it was, he needed to play for time and he needed to whittle down the enemy. It was a huge amount of chakra he would use, but hopefully Raido would give the message to Minato soon and he only had to hold out until then.

 

Thee clones appeared, leaving him feeling near drained and a little bit dizzy for a few seconds. Maybe he had miscalculated a bit. Panting Kakashi went through another series of signs. A second later, there was only one double of Kakashi, another for Rin and another one for the Chunin.

 

A soft, relieved “Kakashi...!” drew his attention back to Rin, who looked equal parts shocked, worried, scared and like she wanted to hug him and never let go.

 

“Mah, Rin.” Kakashi crouched down next to her, ignoring the burning in his legs. Too much running around, even for him.

 

God. He would have to train with **Gai** if he wanted to be back in shape soon.

 

“I'll confuse them. You get that one into a state where he can stay alive.”He pointed at the unconscious nameless Chunin “You don't have to heal him completely. Minato will get here soon.” hopefully. But he wouldn't tell her how he had left the village. Instead he took Minato's kunai and pressed it into her hand.

 

“Hide that on yourself.”

 

Even if the enemy got Rin, maybe she would have a chance to get help before it was too late. Just in case.

 

She nodded, determined and more steady now that she had a task to concentrate on and rubbed a steak of blood from her cheek.

 

 

 

[ ](https://ibb.co/jN58KJ)

 

She took Minato's kunai and slipped it into one of the many hidden folds of her skirt. An enemy searching for weapons wouldn't miss it, but it was better than nothing. Her eyes looked red, tear-tracks leaving trails in her dust-covered appearance. She seemed exhausted, but she didn't question him and turned her focus on the Chunin. Trusting him to keep her safe while she did her job. Kakashi felt something warm, yet heavy settle deep within him. He didn't want to leave her, scared that he would loose her is he let her out of his sight for even a moment, but he knew that the best chance they had was to hold out until Minato came for them. And the longer he managed to distract the enemy, the higher the chance of rescue was.

Kakashi left the clone of himself with her, then ran off with the other two. Time to build some traps.

 

He had enough chakra for maybe one or two Chidori left.

 

There were only about thirty enemies remaining, if there hadn't been more than he could see when he first engaged in the fight.

 

Eh. Piece of cake.

 

( ･_\\\\)ﾉ-≒≒≒≒≒≒≒≒≒≒⁂

 

Or not.

 

Kakashi managed to lure about two squads into traps on the side closer to Konoha. One was a lightning barrier that fried his opponents, the other was another explosion trap set to detonate when a tripwire was triggered.

 

That had dealt with about 8 enemies, but also attracted notice of the rest of them.

 

Kakashi was using his chakra as sparingly as he could, very aware that if he ran out of it, everything would be over.

 

He had never been more glad that he had prepared in advance and had _**a lot**_ of exploding tags on his person, waiting to be used. Mostly he tried to stick to techniques that didn't require lot's of chakra. Shunshin, to get away from Ninjutsu-users, Kawarimi (with a nice paper-bomb sticking to whatever he replaced himself with) to deal with Taijutsu fighters.

 

He had backup plans, of course he did, but he would rather slaughter all of Kiri's nin that were after Rin than to fall back on them. But for now he was content to lead the Kiri-nin on a merry chase. And pick them off whenever he got the chance, one by one.

 

It was amazing how long it worked, surely about half an hour had passed, which seemed to Kakashi as if time was stretching into eternity. The Kiri-nin were getting angry, but also more cautious and clever in dealing with Kakashi's tricks. And Kakashi didn't delude himself that his tactic would work forever. Another long few minutes dragged by, before he felt his energy wane too much to continue this game of hide and seek. He was lucky Kiri didn't have a sensor with them, but they were deploying their own tricks, mist crawling over the ground and if Kakashi got caught in that... well. They would find him. And if the mist reached Rin...

 

No, he couldn't allow them to find her. He had dealt with a lot of them... maybe fifteen, maybe twenty, but the ones left alive were the most talented ones, and they were certainly better off than him.

 

If he didn't have a bounty on his head, this would surely change after this day. Great.

 

Time for plan … what letter was he on again? Well, somewhere in the latter half of the alphabet for sure.

 

Hand flew through hand-seals as another Shunshin blurred the world around him, until he was only a short way off from where he had left Rin. His shadow clone noticed his approach, and quickly notified Rin before he could surprise her with his sudden appearance.

 

“How is he...?” he questioned in a soft, barely audible whisper after Rin turned to him. She was tense, her energy clearly drained from the excessive healing she had done but some of the tension disappeared now that Kakashi was back and in not too bad of a shape. A few near misses had left bloody gashes on his arms and legs – but most had been repelled by his arm guards that he was used to wearing at this age.

 

“He's alive... for now.” she mouthed back, knowing that he could read her lips just as well as when the was talking aloud. Kakashi frowned, looking at the Chunin and noting that the worst of the damage had been healed, the rest bandaged. The Chunin would survive and – provided he got some care soon – would probably be able to continue his life as a shinobi.

 

“... you are amazing.” Kakashi mumbled, regret flooding him as he thought back to a different time, different circumstances that had cut Rin down before she had a chance to develop her clear talent any further.

 

She was not Sakura, her temper was softer, gentle and caring than his quickly angered student, but she was good. He never allowed himself to think of what she could have become, back in the future. But now that he did... he wanted to see it. He wanted that so badly, and he couldn't get them all out alive and well. Madara wanted Rin.

 

So Madara would... get Rin.

 

He nodded, more to himself than her, crouching at her side and taking a deep breath.

 

“I'm... sorry.” He whispered as his hand came down on a pressure point in her neck. Rin didn't even have the time to react, as she slumped forward unconscious, Kakashi's arm catching her before she could fall and undo her painstaking work of putting the Chunin back together by falling on him.

 

Gently he placed her next to the young boy and – feeling a little ashamed for searching her unresponsive body – pulled out the special kunai.

 

Once ready he formed another group of signs. He had enough chakra for this. Hopefully. It was B-ranked, but he only needed to change a small area, not an entire battlefield. He was so, so glad for his foreknowledge and his paranoia. If he hadn't packed all this stuff days in advance, hiding it in his room for when the time was right, then he would have been wholly unprepared.

 

“Doton: Doryuheki.”

 

This time he concentrated, so instead of a wall rising up, Kakashi made it so the stone shaped itself around Rin and the unconscious Chunin in as much a natural pattern as he could manage. He was sweating by the end of it, black spots dancing in his sight. Once the jutsu finished, he released a sigh of relief. A small fissure in the rock would allow enough air to get in and out so they wouldn't suffocate.

 

Out of his pockets he fished four barrier tags. They weren't supposed to keep something out or in, that would be too obvious. Instead Kakashi buried them in four corners around the rock, spreading leaves and dirt over them to hide them from sight.

 

The only thing these seals did, were dampen chakra. If there was a sensor around, they wouldn't find the two bodies hidden in the rock.

 

At last, Kakashi took Minato's dagger and stabbed it into the ground next to the hiding place, as deep as he could so only the handle was still sticking out.

 

Once he was done, he stepped back and wiped the sweat off his face, feeling rather faint.

 

Out of his pockets he took the last thing he had prepared in case of emergencies.

 

Plain, brown eye-contacts.

 

He put them in, hiding his Sharingan.

 

Another seal, made by clumsy, exhausted fingers and a henge settled over him.

 

A special one, that was based off on Naruto's Orioke no Jutsu with a twist to be more... normal. It was solid, which made it different from the normal Henge (and the reason why Kakashi had played around with it. He may be a pervert but he didn't have to make himself into a woman to get some action.). It would keep up, as long as he had the smallest amount of chakra in his body that wasn't disrupted by other chakra. So long as he dodged any Ninjutsu and Genjutsu, he would be able to keep it up.

 

Panting heavily and about ready to curl up and take a nap, Rin Nohara stood in his place.

 

There was only one thing left to do: Run.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations:  
> Doton: Doryuheki! = Earth Release: Earth-Style-Wall  
> Raises an earth wall
> 
> Shunshin no jutsu = Body-flicker technique  
> Ninja's way to use chakra to move at a speed so fast that it seems like teleportation
> 
> Kawarimi no jutsu = Substitution technique  
> Ninja substitutes with another nearby object
> 
> ＼＼\ ٩(๑❛ワ❛๑)و //／／
> 
>  
> 
> The long awaited sort-of-Rin-rescue!
> 
> Sorry I'm late. I got lost on the road of life and have been held hostage by a phone-call. 
> 
> God damn it, I wanted to post a chapter each day... it's 00:40 here now, I've got to get up in 5 hours for work and fight scenes are really not something I easily write (I hope I didn't disappoint anyone)... and the jutsus... oh god, please why are there so many jutsus in that Manga....
> 
> I hope I didn't muddle anything up :P
> 
> As always, tell me your likes, dislikes, hobbies... you know, just do a full introduction (but try to avoid being as informative as Kakashi or Sakura's were...)
> 
> No, honestly guys, you are amazing. I didn't think I would get so many Kudos or comments!!


	9. Capture

Kakashi knew he wouldn't hold out much longer. Even keeping his Sharingan closed, his chakra had reached the bottom end of low and his muscles were only working due to pure determination.

 

He had tried to slip past them to make his way back to Konoha. Surely someone had noticed the commotion by now. When that didn't work, he had tried to go around them, taking a longer path but hopefully managing to get closer to reaching help. He was cut off, and now he was simply trying to shake them off, but with little to no success.

 

He was slowly being herded. He knew he was. Clearly his enemy knew he wasn't a match for them, or at least they thought so. He wasn't, not anymore, but they assumed he was a medic nin they had separated from the team. They wanted him to exhaust himself before capturing him, and sadly it was working.

 

More and more often Kakashi was stumbling, his landings and steps unsteady. He had accumulated a number of cuts and bruises from kunai or shuriken, non that had hit him – yet – but they had gotten close, making him dodge awkwardly to avoid getting skewered by them.

 

Yes. Kakashi had seen better times.

 

But, Kakashi amended with a wry smile hidden underneath a henge and a mask, he had also had much worse.

 

A great weight hitting him in his side like a battering ram put an end to his thoughts, as he crashed through the woods, sliding over the ground with a hoarse shout. It took him a moment to reorient himself, and when he blinked through the pain, he could see that he was surrounded. Three of the Kiri-nin were hiding in the trees, while six more approached him on the ground. Gritting his teeth, Kakashi tried to heave himself back to his feet, but clearly his body had enough. Panting heavily Kakashi fell back on the ground, muscles shaking almost uncontrollably from being overstrained. His ankle was swelling a bit, from when he had landed badly and twisted it.

 

He didn't like being helpless, so when a Kiri-nin approached him, he did try to get away one more time. Before he could get his limbs working again, a heavy boot crashed into his ribcage, sending him sliding a little further over the ground. Pebbles and sticks ripped through his clothing and skin, making the time-traveler shout in pain.

 

When Kakashi stopped at the base of a tree, he immediately curled up in pain, near breathless from the hit. That guy had certainly not held back. Immediately his rips protested, clearly bruised or even cracked.

 

Mah, mah, unlucky, his mind sing-songed. Maybe he _was_ going crazy.

 

“That little bitch-” One of the Kiri-nin growled, but he was being held back from approaching Kakashi by another enemy “-is the reason why my student and over half of our comrades were killed. She better be worth the trouble.” the man basically spit and Kakashi was kind of glad that the guy didn't know that Kakashi had killed them himself.

 

“Calm down. She's no good to us dead and I just want to get this over with.” the other one said, his voice raspy from an old injury. Kakashi wearily watched them, his gaze flicking from face to face, trying to find a way to get out of the situation. Step's too close to him made him flinch, then a hand gripped his hair and dragged him up. The twelve year old struggled on instinct, but stopped when his flailing didn't help his situation and only pained him further. A hand closed around his throat, lifting him even further until his feet barely touched the ground. His fingers scraped weakly against the arm holding him, trying to dislodge the strangling hold that was slowly but surely cutting off his air supply. Black spots started to grow in his vision, slowly eroding the world around him. His last visual was a scarred face of a surprising young man, grinning with malice.

 

“Sweet dreams, sweetheart.”

 

( ･_\\\\)ﾉ-≒≒≒≒≒≒≒≒≒≒⁂

 

Kakashi woke bit by bit.

 

First was the feeling of pain that crashed over him. That was familiar, and could be ignored until he knew the situation. Breathing through the pain helped little.

 

Next came the smell. Blood, stone, water, mildew, sweat, ammonium, iron, burning wood, people.

 

Then his hearing seemed to slowly fade back in. Murmurings that were nearly indistinguisable, until Kakashi was able to concentrate a little more.

 

“-was not the plan! How did this happen?”

 

“-did you see-”

 

“-heavy losses, can't believe it. Who the hell was that kid?-”

 

“-another student of the Yellow Flash-”

 

“-kill on sight, that kid can't be allowed to grow-”

  
“-think this plan will-”

 

“-already started, half finished-”

 

“-can't wait until that brat returns to Konoha-”

 

Finally he took note of his body beyond the pain.

 

Kakashi awoke naked. Which reminded him of...

 

…

 

Okay, no, that one was new.

 

New and unsettling. He had gone through training in ANBU, as removing the clothes of prisoners was a standard intimidation technique, but he hadn't had a real situation that had robbed him of clothing in this setting.

Usually there was a lot more consent involved, his mind reminded him, and more naked skin.

 

Something wet and cold touched his skin, making him flinch on instinct.

 

“Tch. Oi! Shut up, she's awake!”

 

Seeing no reason to keep playing dead anymore, Kakashi slowly blinked his eyes. They burned uncomfortably, until Kakashi blinked a few times. The contact lenses had made his cornea swell up. If he got an eye infection, he would extract bloody revenge on any Kiri-nin in the near future that crossed his path. He had never had an eye infection, even after a surgery in a forest with limited tools. He would not start now.

 

But the contact lenses at least offered some protection. If the enemy knew he had the Sharingan. Well. He didn't want another eye-operation in a cave.

 

Everything was blurry for a moment, before Kakashi adjusted to the light of fire glowing nearby. He tried to move-

 

Ah. He was also paralysed. Experimentally he tried to wiggle his toes to no effect.

 

Right. Time to panic a little?

 

Kakashi took a shaky breath. He couldn't really remember being this helpless in a fight... not even when fighting Pain and being near death from chakra exhaustion. Even then he had been able to fight back, to move.

 

That was... new. Kakashi settled. And something he could have really lived without experiencing. He couldn't help but imagine Rin in his place. Had the same thing happened to her?

 

“Should we knock her out again?” another shinobi asked.

 

A short moment later a face appeared in his vision, smiling almost gently.

 

“Don't worry.” the shinobi said, reaching forward with glowing hands. A medic nin, the green chakra showed and, yeah, now was the time to panic because as the hand drew closer, clearly intent on sending him back to sleep (a technique medic nins learned to keep their patients from feeling the pain during an operation, some even specialised in it), Kakashi could feel the chakra disrupting the henge around him, making the ninja flinch back and stare at him with wide eyes.

 

“What. The. Fuck.” the nin said slowly, pronouncing each word and drawing the attention of the rest of the cave. Kakashi felt a spark of vindictive, smug pleasure at the surprised look.

 

At the same time he rather felt at a loss of what to do now that he was helpless, naked and male again, Kakashi fake eye-smiled on instinct.

  
“Yo!”

 

The kick to his midsection sending him crashing into a wall was a complete over-reaction, at least in Kakashi's humble opinion, before he blacked out again.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kakashi can't help but infuriate people. That was his "Fuck you, too." to the Kiri-Nin that were the reason he killed Rin the first time. Double edged sword, but eh, whatever.


	10. Plan S

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING OF VIOLENCE
> 
> I don't go into too much detail, but there is mentions of torture in this chapter

He couldn't have been knocked out for long. When he came to, he was still lying (still naked, his mind reminded him) crumbled on the ground where he had hit the wall of the cave. His ears were ringing, but Kakashi could still hear the argument that was happening a few feet from him.

 

“-THE **HELL** DID YOU MISS A HENGE ON A PRISONER!”  
  
“How was I supposed to know! It was solid! She- ehr... he? He was unconscious!! I've never seen something like this!” a voice whined frantically.

 

“We should kill him.” another added hatefully.

 

“What, and go back and try kidnapping the girl again? By now she's probably back in the village reporting to the Hokage! We need to get this done, and quickly!”

 

Concentrating on himself, while keeping track of the conversation he noticed that he was still paralysed (Poison? Seal? Broken spine?), but with his new position – painful as it was to acquire a new point of view (it was totally worth it) – Kakashi finally got a look at his overall situation.

 

“We can't just seal-” the voice got interrupted.

 

“What does it matter if we use the boy instead of the girl? Actually, it's probably better. Didn't you want him to die? This way he will, hopefully taking most of his rabble with him!”

 

Ah. Plan S in progress.

 

“Tch. I wanted to kill the bastard myself.”

 

He was Screwed. Capital letters as that basically explained the plan. And not in a fun way either.

 

Almost the whole cave was covered in a giant, ugly sealing array. And Kakashi had spend enough time studying Naruto's seal in hopes of helping to stabilize it that he recognized parts of this one easily, even without his foreknowledge of what had happened to Rin in the future.

 

He didn't want to become a Jinchūriki. Especially not one that had a faulty seal. Memories of Gaara's incurable insomnia and how Naruto had described his state prior to the extraction of Shukaku.

 

And what he definitely didn't want to become, was a god damn Bijuu-bomb delivery service to his own village. Not after managing to save Rin. His eyes frantically moved over the lines, the array almost finished. All that was left was himself. And he knew that before someone had knocked him out by kicking him into a wall, there had been another one already painting his skin. A tendril of undeniably potent fear clutched at his heart. He needed to move. It couldn't be a poison, he was mostly immune... wasn't he? Yes, when he had become a Jonin that had been one weakness he had tried to cover after seeing Rin take out an enemy with poisoned chopsticks. Who the hell coated chopsticks in poison. It wasn't even the enemies. It had been her own, but she had been immune. Kakashi had hence forth refused to take food from her.

 

Not poison then. They needed him to run back, so probably not a broken spine (he at least could still feel pain down to his little toe so there was that). It was most likely a seal then, that they would need to take off if they wanted to use the huge seal to stuff the Bijuu into him. The slab of stone in the middle of the chamber, right below an improvised construction holding a large urn covered in seals, showed where Kakashi was likely going to end up when they were ready to take the seal off him. Heavy chains would prevent him from escaping once they stopped the paralysis.

 

He could see the man that had taken a brush to him go around, checking the seals for faults and correcting whatever he could find in precise, concentrated strokes. Another two Ninja's slowly made their way over to him, three more following shortly behind. It was a small group of survivers that had returned, something Kakashi felt equal parts guilty for, as a few weeks before he had been having peace talks and watched as his people mingled with the other Nations, making Konoha even more vibrant as cultures clashed and merged. Years before they had united, stood together to face a threat to the world and won the war with heavy losses on all sides.

 

Now all this was gone, time rewound until he was back in the nightmarish times that still followed him in his dreams, the thousands of people he had killed before and would likely kill again, if necessary. Maybe he would be able to save some of them. Maybe he could change the world a little here, a little there, but Kakashi was realistic. He wasn't Naruto, and he couldn't save everyone. Hell, if he counted back on his previous life, he had failed at saving pretty much everyone. Always that little bit too late to make a difference, looking in the wrong directions, turning a blind eye, trusting at the wrong point.

 

The only person Kakashi qualified for saving was Tenzo, and Kakashi had a deep rooted belief that Tenzo could have gotten himself out sooner or later. He had only helped speeding the process up, preventing Danzo from brainwashing 'Kinoe' over and over again.

 

Wearily, Kakashi was helpless but to watch as the ninjas stopped next to him, slowly surrounding him. Clearly it would still take some time until the seal was finished and from their feverish glowing eyes, Kakashi had just pissed them off enough that they would use the time well. He knew that look, that grief. The hate of seeing a loved one die, the burning **need** to lash out against the source.

 

And he was that source.

 

Gritting his teeth, Kakashi refused to back down. He knew they would keep him alive, and well enough to run. He could take some pain.

 

It probably was one of the worst beatings in his life, mostly because he couldn't fight back and he felt anger bubble up at him. Even at the hight of his skill, when he had waded through blood that was at least waist-high, slowly rising and rising, he had never stopped so low as to enjoy the suffering of others. His kills had been as clinical and painless as he could make it without endangering himself or his team. If information was needed and a peaceful solution couldn't be found, Kakashi had not had any qualms about using torture – at least not until the night when the images reappeared, his every deed captured by his Sharingan for eternity, things he should have never showed Obito's eye.

 

Still. Not ever on a child.

 

And in the eyes of his enemies he was a child.

 

And they enjoyed every pained grunt, every whimper, and every hoarse scream they managed to drag out from between Kakashi's clenched teeth. They were not inflicting too much damage, clearly wanting him to be able to run afterwards, but he didn't need his face to run, nor his arms, or hands or shoulders. Those were the parts that took the most damage and a little deliriously, Kakashi wondered if his career as a ninja might take a completely different turn this time around. His hands were a mess, fingers broken and twisted that truly only a genius medic-nin would be able to fix that damage. Clearly the enemy wasn't taking any chances. Kakashi wondered how he would have fared as a true 12 year old. Would he have cried? Begged?

 

The pain was bad. It throbbed and stabbed and burned and made it heart to think, to see or hear. It was like the blood rushing in his ears was the only thing, the smell of his _bloodfearsweatsaltwatertears_ mingled with the scent of the enemies _angerragesadnessgriefhorror_ , lingering in his sensitive, uncovered nose and blocking anything else out.

 

He was barely conscious when he noticed that he was being dragged. He mostly noticed because the ninja had grabbed his mangled hand to drag him with, making Kakashi nearly black out from the overwhelming pain cursing through the limb, radiating down his arm like a bolt of lightning, a live wire exposed. Only once they reached the seal, did they pick him up to avoid messing up the array. His paralysed body was put on the stone, cold and smooth under his back. Kakashi was facing the large urn above him with a feeling of dread and terror.

 

This was not supposed to happen.

 

He couldn't let them do this. He had to fight this. He couldn't become a Jinchūriki! He didn't have the chakra-coils necessary, that Bijuu would fry him slowly from the inside out. He wasn't an Uzumaki, nor was he prepared for this burden since birth and neither had he grown up with a tailed beast inside him, forcing him to adapt to the chakra.

 

His heart drummed a heavy, quick beat in his chest.

 

Manacles closed around his limbs, pulling tight until he was stretched out. Someone lifted chakra-glowing fingers to the back of Kakashi's neck, and Kakashi could feel the force keeping him immobilised lift from him. Feeling returned to him, making him twitch in whatever little movement he was allowed, his head snapping to the side to see what was going on.

 

The man from before was hovering next to him, brush raised and already dripping wet with ink. His face was expressionless, deep lines showing he was concentrating on his task.

 

Kakashi tried to move, thinking that maybe, just maybe if he kept moving he could stop them from using the seal on him but another man squeezed his hand and Kakashi screamed, screamed and felt wet ink trailing over his body when he fell still in exhaustion. A cooling line of fire that crawled over his body until the brush finished right over his terrified heart.

 

Kakashi looked down at his body and the cursed seal glimmered wetly in the firelight. Its deadly beauty mocking Kakashi as the ninja around him stepped back, hands forming the sign to activate the ritual.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... I have no clue how this story got so dark all of a sudden. Honestly, when I started out, this was not planned.
> 
> ... I had a bad day? ┌( ಠ_ಠ)┘
> 
> Anyways, I'm not sure how well I will be able to update the next few days. I'm mostly going to be working long and catsitting at my sister's place, so apologies if I don't make daily updates in the next few days (I will try but no promises! Might go either way, no update at all or even more updates? We shall see!)


	11. The Ritual

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song I listened to while writing this chapter:
> 
> Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - [Beat the devil's tattoo](https://soundcloud.com/vagrantrecords/beat-the-devils-tattoo)

The seal slowly started to glow on the outer edges, lines shimmering to life with the amount of chakra being added to it, until it was glimmering in a dull red light. Kakashi's pulse was racing, as he felt and saw the lines on his body starting to move, slowly, ever so slowly connecting to the giant seal. He felt the mixed chakra of the people flood into the written lines over his body, watched in helpless fury as the seal over his heart started to glow too and looked on in horrified silence, teeth gritting against the pain, as the seal slowly burned itself through his skin, deeper and deeper to his heart where it would wind itself tight around the hammering organ. There was no visible wound, but Kakashi could feel it, like invisible bindings trying to warp his will to that of someone else.

Trembling from adrenaline and fear he forced himself to keep his eyes open, to see if anything could be done to help him. All he could observe was how the seal on his stomach seemed to turn fluid, letters slowly blurring together as the seal formed a spiral and slowly opened, forming a dark, gaping hole on Kakashi's abdomen. Kakashi knew this seal. It was from Uzushio, an Uzumaki-seal that Minato had also heavily adapted and combined with the Shiki Fuin before using it on Naruto, which allowed Naruto better accessibility to the nine-tails chakra. It burned that this seal was in Kirigakure's hands and used against Konoha, surely stolen when Kiri had invaded and annihilated Uzushio. And now used on Kakashi, but twisted and repurposed into something hideous.

 

Overhead Kakashi could hear the urn start to crack. Small splinters of the ancient ceramic that held back a Bijuu for too long rained down on him, drawing his gaze upwards. He wished he hadn't. A small crack had formed, slowly splintering open like the maw full of teeth of the beast contained within. The killing intent of the chakra spread out and being directly below it made Kakashi think back on the day Naruto was born and the Kyuubi had rampaged through their village. Even miles away, forced behind a barrier to keep the youngest generation of talented shinobi save, he had felt the deadly presence.

 

Being directly below the malicious chakra lashing out at everything around it, trying to break free after being isolated and contained in a place much too small for it... Kakashi wanted to feel pity, but all he could feel was his limbs locking up in terror, breath coming in short, stifled gasps. The chakra was blue, a brilliant sapphire blue and was clearly fighting the pull Kakashi's seal had on it. Much like Kamui, it seemed like the seal acted like a maelstrom slowly dragging the Bijuu in against its will.

 

The first touch of the foreign chakra had Kakashi throw himself against his bindings, a wordless scream bursting from his already aching and raw throat. Once it started, it was like a flood just entered him, overwhelming his senses. His chakra coils strained under the pressure of too much chakra entering him at once. His back arched off the stone as if he could find relief that way, but there was no escape. He thought he was screaming, but it was as if every sensation was drowning in pain. Smell. Hearing. Seeing. Blue, blue, blue and it **hurt**. This was something foreign, that didn't belong. This was not like the Sharingan, a gift, this was a violation of the highest order. Nothing physical, but something worse than a mere flesh-wound.

 

He wouldn't survive this. How could anyone? How could a small baby withstand this?? Or maybe he was already too grown?? His chakra coils already mostly formed and unwilling to bend, stretch, expand for the new, strange chakra?

 

He had died from chakra exhaustion once. This was the complete opposite. Fit to burst and the Bijuu clearly had no intention of going into its new prison quietly. He could feel the chakra twisting and straining, feel it rip into his coils as if it could hold on to freedom this way.

 

It was horrible, agony of the like that nothing in Kakashi's life was comparable and he clearly had to reorder his pain-scale after this.

 

His vision was strobing in and out, his lungs filled with needles and Kakashi wasn't sure if it was because he had screamed his throat raw or because he couldn't seem to breath through the pain.

 

It was almost a relief when Kakashi finally blacked out to the sight of the seal wrapping itself around the chakra, compressing it and rooting it deeply in his body, attaching itself to his soul so that whenever it would leave, be it voluntary or through extraction, Kakashi's life would be forfeit too.

 

For better or worse, Kakashi had now become the Jinchūriki of the three tailed beast.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short Chapter, but I'm beat guys :P Got the laptop working (more or less) though some keys are barely working. It's a bit exhausting to write as I make so many mistakes due to missing letters <.<
> 
> Anyways, there we go. What are your thoughts on the Ritual and Kakashi being sacrificed? :)


	12. Black Eyes

Pakkun was _not_ happy.

 

No, that was an understatement. Pakkun was decidedly going from unhappy to downright aggrieved.

 

His summoner had _**forgotten**_ him.

 

Well, that wasn't really a surprise, Kakashi had a lot on his mind and Pakkun could see the toll it took on Kakashi to be in the past. He hid it well, but being surrounded by dead people was freaking Pakkun out, scents that he hadn't smelled in decades suddenly being present again. It messed with him, made his fur twitch in agitation. Not natural, his instincts screamed. And he only had to deal with those humans very briefly, instead of on a day to day basis.

 

So maybe he wouldn't go that hard on Kakashi. That's what he thought as he hid in the bushes while Kakashi slaughtered his enemies with a single minded purpose. That's why he kept a careful eye out for the brown haired girl that had given him treats as a pup.

 

And yet, Pakkun wasn't happy. Because his idiot summoner had gotten himself into a right awful mess, and Pakkun had been forced to watch as his idiot summoner saved a girl long dead, a stranger who never got to live, and then promptly got himself captured by the enemy.

 

And Pakkun couldn't do anything. That's what made his fur bristle, his nose twitching in frustration as he sat in front of the stone-hideout Kakashi had carefully formed like a protective shelter. He eyes the kunai in the ground and gnashed his teeth. The blond person, the father of the loud pup Kakashi had taken under his protection, Naruto as the loud person insisted to be called, was late.

 

“Yellow flash my furry behind.” Pakkun grumbled, rounding the kunai as if that would summon the previous Yondaime.

 

“I see no flashing here.” Pakkun put his paw on the kunai, trying to wiggle it. Maybe if he moved it enough, Minato would get the hint and show up sooner than later.

 

When nothing happened, Pakkun let out a long, exasperated sigh and sat down. Thinking hard, his hind-paw absently scratched his ear.

 

Grumbeling the little pug circled the area for some more time, trying to see if there were any Kiri-Nin still here. When he was assured that the girl Kakashi wanted to protect wouldn't be found anytime soon by an enemy, the pug finally decided it was high time to get his summoner back. Clearly Kakashi was lost without his help.

 

Following the trail of death and destruction and the lingering scent of _lightningpackalphafreshleavesafterrain_ that was the base of Kakashi's scent, differing only slightly due to his surroundings, was easy enough and Pakkun quickly gained speed.

 

Places to be, summoner to scold. Pakkun was on a mission.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry. You will get more today because that's a really small chapter. Someone requested a little change of perspective and I agree. I had that in the back of my mind but wasn't sure in how to include it, so it will be a different POV Chapter per person :)


	13. Brown Eyes

Rin woke to darkness and memories of blood, screams, death. For a moment she just laid there, terrified of being the one who got captured again. There were no bindings on her this time, though, and aside from the darkness surrounding her, it didn't feel like she was under a Genjutsu too strong for her to fight.

Slowly, ever so careful not to make a sound, Rin felt around herself. On her right side she encountered stone. On her left she found the fabric of a person lying next to her and flinched back. Her breath hitched as she finally remembered what had happened.

 

“I'm sorry.” Kakashi had said. Kakashi who never really apologized, who was so good at everything he did. Kakashi who had come for her and saved her, when Kiri-Nin had appeared on what should have been a simple mission.

 

They weren't far from the village. Rin hadn't wanted to go on a big mission with Kakashi still in the hospital. But the hospital needed supplies, and Rin wanted to feel useful, so she had agreed and went with a small team to gather medicinal plants to restock their supplies that were stretched thin due to the ongoing war.

 

Three Chunin and a Jonin. Two of them medic nin's, the others for protection that they hadn't even thought they needed, this close to the village. A mere half day to a day away from home.

 

Rin doesn't want to know what it meant that such a huge group of enemy nin had managed to get this close to Konoha, without being detected. Doesn't want to know what their plan had been, why they had looked at her and gestured at her and told them that she was the one they wanted alive.

 

She had been so terrified. So terrified because she knew she wasn't good enough to fight back, not against the amount of enemies that were surrounding them and all she had been able to do was to stand over her last, fallen teammate and try to keep him alive, despite knowing that he would die in a few seconds anyways. Not her teammate, not Obito or Kakashi or Minato-sensei. A young boy, barely older than herself who had offered her kind, easy smiles and asked which plants she was looking for. Someone who would die simply because he was with her, and Rin couldn't help but feel responsible despite not even knowing _**why**_ the enemy was coming for her! She was a medic-nin, but hardly the best, still training, learning. _Why her?_

 

She had grit her teeth, tears welling up. She didn't want to die. She didn't want to be captured again and cause trouble. Not to anyone, but especially not to Kakashi.

 

Kakashi. Kakashi would be devastated. She had seen how he had looked around the world as if he could barely recognize his surroundings. Had seen how he had stopped, when seeing the Uchiha pass him, a haunted look in his eyes. There were shadows in his eyes, deeper, darker, older, as if he had aged beyond his years after Obito's death. Could see him lingering in front of the Memorial stone, as if he belonged there, as if this place was more home to him. Sometimes she wondered what he saw, standing there and blankly staring at the stone for hours, whenever he wasn't training himself to near collapse.

 

Despite his insistence of not caring in the past, Rin wondered if Kakashi didn't care too much. If he had managed to so completely surround himself with masks and lies that he himself couldn't tell anymore.

 

He smiled now. Over simple things, whereas before he had been stoic, what little of his face they could see always wiped blank, as if he was afraid of showing emotions. She had wondered if that was why he wore the mask, but remembered that even when he had been little, before the war, before becoming a Ninja at all, he had always his his face.

 

And yet to Rin it now sometimes felt as if it was either that Kakashi smiled, or Kakashi would crumble and break. Another mask in his collection of masks.

 

And she had seen him lingering in her presence. Always on the outer edges, as if he didn't want her to notice, didn't dare intrude too much into her life, but like she had told Obito: She was always watching her boys. How could she not, with how reckless they tended to be?

 

He became her shadow, and Rin felt a sad twist in her heart, wondering if it was only the promise of Obito's last wish that bound him to her more strongly than any bonds of friendship that had slowly grown between them.

 

And now....

 

Now all this wouldn't matter and Kakashi would wake up alone, and it was that thought she couldn't stand. Not so shortly after loosing Obito. She didn't want to cause him more pain.

 

“Kakashi... I'm sorry...” she whispered fearfully as the Kiri-nin stepped closer.

 

And like an angry spectre Kakashi had appeared at her side, as if summoned by her will alone. So fast that Rin had first thought the enemy had attacked, like a bolt of lightning striking the ground. In a whirlwind of dust, noise and whirling leaves he dragged her and Okita, the wounded Chunin out of the line of fire.

 

He gave her a job, and despite how she only wanted to sag to the ground in boneless relief, she nodded, heart singing with joy. They weren't out of danger, but Kakashi was here, and she trusted him, even as she worried about him. Had he been released from the hospital while she was gone? Why was he here? How had he known that she was in danger? Coincidence?  
  
All these thought's were pushed into the back of her mind. She needed to heal, this time she could save someone, make sure someone else's Obito wouldn't be left behind bleeding out. This time she wouldn't fail.

 

She ignored the screams, the explosions, the silence and the repeat of all three, entirely focused on saving a life while at the edge she could see the clone Kakashi had made prowling around her, keeping her safe.

 

When Kakashi returned, she had nearly had a heart attack. He was covered in blood, though her eyes quickly noticed that most of it wasn't his own.

 

“... you are amazing...” Kakashi had told her after she explained, covered in sweat and shivering from overusing her chakra, that Okita would live. Warmth glowed in her.

 

And then he had apologized and her world turned dark.

 

Carefully she sat up, wincing at the pain in her neck. It was more of a painful twinge, but nothing serious. A pressure point protesting abuse.

 

Kakashi had knocked her out. Rin rubbed her eyes, slowly adjusting and seeing a little slip of light like a crack to her right side. She crawled over, looking out, trying to be as quiet as possible.

 

She recognized the surroundings.

 

She also saw that night was falling, and it had barely been noon when Kakashi had saved her. Carefully she widened the crack with a kunai, until she could make out who else was with her in her shelter.

 

Okita. Trembling hands carefully reached for him, pressing her fingers against his throat. Warmth and a pulse made her sag in relief. Alive. He was alive.

 

Looking around, Rin frowned.

 

He was alive. But Kakashi was gone.

 

Despite the risk, Rin determinedly worked on creating an exit. It was slow going, because she didn't know any Doton Jutsus. Suiton and Katon were her affinities, and she knew for a fact that Kakashi's were Raiton and Suiton. Did he learn a Doton or was this the work of someone else?

 

Sometime later a low, vaguely familiar pained groan made her look up from the hole she had made. It was almost big enough to crawl out now. She turned around and checked Okita over again, hands glowing green as she checked his wounds just as he opened his eyes and locked on to her fearfully.

 

“It's all right.” nothing was right. Kakashi wouldn't have left her behind. He wouldn't. He had told her, he had been the kind of trash that had left her behind once before, but she _**knew**_ he wouldn't do it again. Knew that he had regretted it more than anything, that he had not been a little bit earlier in saving her and thus, somehow, saving Obito as well. Silly.

 

“The enemy seems to be gone.” She said, concentrating on her healing to avoid looking at him.

 

“W-what happened...?” Okita croaked, looking around in confusion.

 

“...” she wasn't sure how to explain things.

 

“Kakashi came for us.” she started to explain “He managed to distract the enemy long enough for me to heal you...” she opened her mouth to say he had left her and him unconscious in this hide-out, but then held back at the last moment. He had knocked her out and she didn't know why.

 

“I must have... lost consciousness. You were severally hurt.” she said instead and looked to the hole she had made.

 

“We must have been out for a few hours. It's getting dark...” and Kakashi wasn't back. She had a bad feeling about this, like a premonition.

 

“Kakashi-san?” Okita asked, clearly knowing the name. Kakashi was well-known as a genius after all.

 

“I guess I owe him one... and you of course!” Okita grinned, and carefully sat up. He looked at he hole, then back to her, almost impressed.

 

“I guess it's time to get out of here, hm?” the Chunin asked and flexed his limbs, trying to see if everything was back in working order. He beamed at Rin in astonishment.

 

“I thought I was a goner for a second there!! Thank you Rin-san!”

 

Together they made good work of the stone-wall and slowly crawled out into the fresh night air. Okita whistled.

 

“That's some good use of a Doton. If I didn't know, I wouldn't think this was not part of the scenery.”

 

Rin took a look around herself, feeling lost.

 

“I... what... what do you think happened to Kakashi?” that sobered Okita up, as he too looked around their surroundings, face turning grim.

 

“Nothing good, that's for sure.” he sighed, wincing and putting a hand where he was still sore from the gash that had nearly gutted him.

 

“I...” Rin hesitated, but felt a little flare of hope as she noticed small, familiar paw-prints.

  
“Oh!” she said, kneeling down and touching a finger to one, feeling hope well up.

 

“Look! It's one of Kakashi's Ninken! If we follow this, it might lead us to him...!” she turned around to Okita, who watched her with hesitance written across his face.

 

“I don't know...” he said “We don't know what happened... and how many enemies are around. We should head back to the village and get backup, shouldn't we?”

 

But the thought of returning to Konoha without Kakashi, who could be injured and bleeding somewhere... no, that thought didn't sit well with Rin.

 

Stubbornly she shook her head.

  
“I can't-” her voice broke “I... I can't just leave him behind.” she couldn't loose another teammate, and Okita's gaze turned sympathetic. He knew about Obito.

 

“A quick look around then? And then go for backup?” he suggested.

 

Rin contemplated it for a moment, then patted herself down, but Minato-sensei's kunai was gone. Frantically she looked around, thinking she had dropped it, when she saw it burried next to the hide-out. She stepped closer and grabbed it, but it was stuck deep into stone. Another hand closed around hers and helped her tug it free.

 

She turned to face Okita again triumphantly.

 

“This belongs to my sensei.” she said, ignoring how her sensei wasn't here despite the kunai being stuck deliberately into the ground, most likely by Kakashi so Minato-sensei would be able to find her.

 

“If we find Pakkun, he can get a notice to Konoha and Minato-sensei will come to help us.”

 

She felt bad as Okita's expression turned to cautious relief, as he finally nodded.

 

After all, she knew: Minato-sensei had been called to the front-lines. It wouldn't be easy for him to come, not if it meant abandoning his other comrades in the middle of battle.

 

But she couldn't abandon Kakashi any more than he could abandon her. She had to see if she could help him. She couldn't bear to be the last student of her sensei, to tell him how Kakashi, who Minato-sensei worried about constantly, had died so shortly after Obito.

 

Kakashi had to live. He couldn't die before her. Just like she couldn't die before him.

 

Thus was the bond between them, the little string of red that Obito had tied neatly around them in his final moments and neither were willing to break.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, how did this get so long??? Rin!! What the hell, girl??
> 
> Well. It was fun writing her. Two chapters in one day, and I really should go to sleep :P 
> 
> Would you like a tiny Minato POV, too? Or should we return to Kakashi with the next chapter? ^^
> 
> P.S.: Helping a friend move tomorrow. Might not make it for a chapter but I will, as always, try :P


	14. Blue Eyes

To say Minato had been shocked when Kakashi arrived back half dead from a mission that shouldn't have had much danger was an understatement. Kakashi had nearly driven himself over the edge of exhaustion just to be back in the village as fast as possible, and the Yellow Flash had the distinct notion that it wasn't entirely for the sake of the mission and more to do with Kakashi's original unwillingness to leave Rin's sight. Kakashi asking after her even though he was barely conscious, only seemed to confirm his hunch.

 

Minato swallowed back a sigh, rubbing a hand over his face and pulling his fingers through his hair as a headache pounded in him like hammers striking an anvil repeatedly. Seeing Kakashi being swallowed by the whites of a hospital bed made it all the more obvious how young his student was, and how at a loss Minato felt about how to help Kakashi.

 

Clearly he wasn't dealing with Obito's death well. Where before, when Minato had found him after Sakumo's suicide, Kakashi had withdrawn himself, reciting shinobi laws like it was the only thing that made sense in his world anymore after loosing his last safe place in it... Minato had thought that if anything, Obito's death would drive Kakashi further away, making him close up again, shut out anyone that could get close and hurt him again when they were suddenly gone.

The blond shinobi had hoped a team would help Kakashi connect with others again, but Kakashi had done his best to stay apart from them. It was only in recent weeks that their relationship had improved, and Minato had such high hopes for Obito and Rin drawing Kakashi back into the living, instead of staying in the shadow of his dead father.

He knew that Kakashi had been traumatized at a young age. Knew that loosing his father had been hard on him. When Minato had found Kakashi, he had been sitting in a pool of his father's blood, holding his hands over the deep wound, where Sakumo had gutted himself. Minato had felt sick at the thought of an eight year old walking in on this and then trying desperately to put his father back to rights again, because Kakashi's hands had been covered in blood and glowing a weak, sickly green. Minato was sure Kakashi had never used a medical jutsu before in his life, but this genius little kid must have gotten enough by watching others to recreate it somehow, even if it was much too weak and much too late to help the dead. Kakashi had hovered over his father, dead skin had roughly knitted together in some parts and had damn near killed himself. A kid still in the Academy, using medical ninjutsu?? Minato would have thought it impossible.

 

It was the only time Minato had seen Kakashi use it. And never again had Kakashi shown an interest in medical-jutsus, seeming to have an aversion of them and looking the other way whenever someone used it on him. As if he was disinterested in others ability to heal him, something that had irked Obito as his loud student had seen it as Kakashi disrespecting Rin. But Minato thought that Kakashi probably would always connect the glowing green to guts spilling over the ground, soaking wooden floors and his pants in a sticky red. He had never asked Kakashi about it, not when he had bundled the boy up and carried him outside, worried about how Kakashi let it happen passively when usually he would have scowled and demanded to be put down the child's eyes locked on the dead body until Minato had turned them away.

 

And then he had tried to gain the right to become Kakashi's guardian, only to be blocked by civilian council left and right.

Kakashi was the last of the Hatake, they said, and it was a prestigious clan that was known far beyond the Fire Country thanks to Sakumo. He was now clan head, and would need to stand on his own feet sooner rather than later!

Kakashi was already well on his way to being a Genin, and thus an adult. A few months of guardianship weren't worth the trouble.

Minato was needed on missions, how would he care about a child??

What about Minato's enemies? Wouldn't they see Kakashi as a weakness to get to him?

 

All he had been able to manage, seething with helpless rage, was to make them agree to give Kakashi to him, as an apprentice after he became a Genin.

 

But until then, Kakashi had to live in the same house where his father died, and Minato had watched as Kakashi often lingered in front of **the** door, the room always closed, as if it hid a monster Kakashi couldn't make himself confront. A large house for a small kid.

 

So Minato had decided to come by as often as he could, helping Kakashi out with menial tasks, or simply bringing him food that Kushina had cooked. Sometimes they trained together. And sometimes Minato would carry him back, when Kakashi had overdone it with his own training and tuck him into the bed. It only happened when Kakashi was so exhausted, that he could barely keep his eyes open, but Minato treasured those memories beyond much else. And Kakashi had warmed up to him. Cautious, but he would come out more readily if Minato asked, would sometimes come over to his home to join in their dinner. If Minato wanted to show him something, Kakashi – in his own way – seemed almost eager and curious about it. It was hard to read expressions on Kakashi, with how little one could see of his masked face and even further masked emotions. But Minato had studied and learned and knew Kakashi's expressions by heart, and his eyes were the most telling sign.

 

Always with a mask and always with a blank, bored expression, but Minato could see how he watched them, when they ate, how the shadows in his eyes lifted a little, especially when he and Kushina argued. He didn't smile, but something in his expression, in his eyes made Minato think that this was going in the right direction, as if it was a soundless giggle that only Kakashi could manage to express.

 

He was quiet, and withdrawn, and so very serious that Minato couldn't help but want to wrap him up and hide him away.

 

He was adorable, but clearly Minato alone wasn't enough, so Minato had asked the Hokage for a Genin team, instead of taking Kakashi on alone as had been his original plan. It wasn't healthy for Kakashi to only depend on him. He needed to interact with his peers and this was one of the only ways Minato could even hope to force Kakashi into the presence of others without it being a mission.

 

Kakashi was not happy. He didn't show it much, beyond frigid stares that froze his new teammates to a spot during the first few weeks, but Obito was stubborn, and Rin was gentle, and Minato could see how the ice armour around his students heart had started to melt, bit by bit, until little splinters of ice were being chipped away.

 

But he hadn't known how far Kakashi had let his teammates in. Hadn't expected the raw hurt and desperation when Obito died, so strong that Minato almost didn't recognize his student despite watching over him for years. And for a moment, Minato feared that Kakashi would run back towards the enemy to try and reach the dead body of his probably only friend apart from Rin, even if he had to slaughter his way through numberless enemies or die trying.

 

It was as if a switch had been flicked. Something Minato would have been overjoyed before, but...

 

Instead of withdrawing, Kakashi clutched at Rin as if she was the only reason for his existence anymore. Rin had told him about the promise Kakashi had made to Obito, and he knew that this was not any way to live a life and had resolved to slowly get Kakashi to loosen his hold, to trust that others would look after Rin while he was out of the village, that he needn't be the one solely responsible for her safety. He didn't want to know what would happen to Kakashi in this mindset, if something happened to Rin. Somehow, Minato thought, it felt as if Kakashi would loose his mind in such an event, and Minato who saw Kakashi almost as his own kid... he couldn't bear it.

 

That's why he had send him on the mission, as missions had always been what had made Kakashi focus. A point that had worried Minato, but clearly Kakashi wasn't looking to finish missions no matter the cost anymore. Obito had finally gotten through to Kakashi, but Minato wasn't sure if the obsessive behaviour he could see in his student was entirely healthy. Not if it drove him to nearly kill himself by running without pause to get back to Rin.

 

Needless to say, that plan had clearly not worked that well.

 

Maybe it was too soon.

 

Minato let out another sigh and felt concern squeeze his heart. Gently he carded a hand through his students hair, brushing it out of his face and saw Kakashi nuzzle into the warmth of his hand. Like this, nobody would see Kakashi as a shinobi that could kill without mercy. And Minato sometimes wished that Kakashi had taken longer to archive the rank of a Jonin. He wished that the little innocence he could see right now would have lingered, to be seen outside a time when Kakashi was unconscious and in the hospital.

 

“What am I supposed to do with you?” Minato asked the night, but no answer reached him. Gently he stroked Kakashi's brow again, then slowly backed away. He had hoped to be here when his student woke up, but the information Kakashi had brought back had concerned the Hokage greatly and he had asked that Minato leave as quickly as possible, to help at the front-line. The enemy had gotten reinforcements and the shinobi stationed at the border were having a hard time keeping the border. Minato would be the quickest to reach them, and after the Kannabi-bridge his reputation preceded him. Hopefully the enemy would back off. If not, then Minato would have to engage and he didn't enjoy slaughtering his enemies, despite what was being said about him. He had been... emotional after Obito's death. His anger near boiling after the recount of what had happened, and even more after seeing how it affected his so- … student. Students.

 

And now he was standing on the battlefield, staring down the enemy that had withdrawn a little after seeing him on the other side of the border.

 

He was staring them down, when he felt the Hiraishin on the kunai he had given to Kakashi glow to life in the back of his mind. His breath hitched. Kakashi knew not to use the kunai except for emergencies. He knew it. He wasn't supposed to go on any missions until Minato came back, Minato had _made sure of that_. So why was he using it? And it was Kakashi, because Minato could almost feel an after-image of his chakra on the seal.

 

Minato stared at the enemy. The enemy stared back. Minato blinked, crooked his head to the side and contemplated the situation. Then he closed his eyes and breathed out.

 

He could stare down the enemy all day, hell, probably for longer than that. His presence made them cautiously back off, but Minato knew that as soon as his back was turned or he disappeared, they would push forward again.

 

He hadn't wanted to slaughter the enemy.

 

But like hell would he wait around when his student was in trouble. And maybe it had not exactly been his order to start the fight, but Minato sure know how to quickly end it and get to where he needed to be. He trusted that Kakashi would be able to keep himself safe for some time, though Minato didn't know what situation Kakashi could have possibly encountered. Or why the hell he wasn't in Konoha when Minato had requested that Kakashi had time to recover until Minato got back, barring emergencies or his unlikely death.

 

They were already at war. The enemy had engaged first, even if it had been before Minato arrived. Minato would simply retaliate, make them retreat, scatter and then go and check up on Kakashi.

 

The battle that commenced would go down in history as one of the most brutal ones in the entire war.

 

It took Minato much longer than he would have liked to thin out the enemy until he was confident that the border could deal with them on their own again.

 

A day had passed and Minato felt sick with worry, his chakra uncomfortably low after using the Hiraishin so often, but despite that he speed in the direction of Kakashi's kunai, trying to get in range as quickly as possible to use the jutsu to teleport to his students side.

 

He just hoped he was not too late yet.

 

Not again.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I barely managed to write this chapter today! Minato's POV was really hard D: He's a big worry wart!
> 
> I've been volunteered to help out with moving stuff tomorrow too :P But as I managed to get a chapter out despite being late today, I might manage tomorrow as well? :/


	15. Presence of Pack

Kakashi drifted. Every now and then he became aware, in short bursts that didn't last long before pain dragged him back under. Mostly he was fading in and out of consciousness, only getting snatches of conversation that seemed too muddled for him to make any sense of, or little slices of his surroundings. A shoulder digging into his abdomen, ground moving too fast underneath before he was lost to the world again. The smell of stone, wind and an oncoming storm. Metal and blood and sweat of the one carrying him.

They must have decided to move him while he was out cold. Kakashi was aware enough about that, but there was nothing he was able to do about it. They weren't gentle with him and Kakashi was by now pretty sure that Rin had gotten treated completely different. Maybe because she was a female, or maybe because she didn't kill about twenty or thirty comrades of the enemy right before the ritual. She had certainly been in a better condition than he was in, that's for sure. The chakra – the sapphire blue one that didn't belong, was trying to escape it's confines in sharp bursts, that made the world fade out and leave Kakashi feeling like he was being drowned repeatedly.

 

During the transport he was under seals again, making him unable to move, but the time-traveler was sure that even without the precaution, he wouldn't have been able to be much of a threat. He specialized in Ninjutsu after all, and his hands were all but crippled. The enemy clearly wasn't willing to risk him getting free and attacking them again. Smart, when one considered what they had just sealed into Kakashi.

The sapphire chakra was like a star in his body, bright and radiating but also contained. He could feel it struggling and sometimes a bit of the chakra escaped, making him moan in discomfort and pain as it pushed its way through his abused coils, making him black out again when it became too much, before the seal struggled to wrap itself around the intruder once more, bringing short relief.

 

When Kakashi slowly drifted awake again he was bound to a stone pillar, thick robes winding around him forcing him uncomfortably against rough stone, cutting tightly into his flesh and pressing against injuries. Even without looking around, he knew he was alone. He couldn't smell the enemy anymore, nor hear them. He wasn't sure he wanted to know what had drawn him out of his unconscious state this time, his body sagging limply against the bindings, no energy left to keep himself upright. How they expected him to run in this state was a mystery to him. He wondered how they would react if Kakashi simply decided to walk at a leisurely pace back to **Konoha** because **he just wanted to get home.**

 

The emotion that accompanied that thought was almost painful. Kakashi struggled tiredly, his limbs shaking a little as he tested the ropes as discreetly as he could. He just wanted to get back, see the safe walls of **Konoha** but that was wrong he needed to... do... something.

 

His thoughts felt muddled and a bit slow, pain making everything seem hazy. Kakashi wanted to shake his head slightly, to try and rid himself of the cobwebs clinging to his thoughts. Only training and experience kept him still, as he strained his senses as far as he could. There didn't seem to be anyone close by, but he could feel several chakra-presences patrolling the area.

 

And... a small one directly in front of him, too small to be human and too different. Familiar.

 

Finally Kakashi felt safe enough to take stock of himself, instead of his surroundings. His clothes were back, but his face still felt bare, the mask hanging half torn down around his neck. He missed the familiar weight and safety it provided, as well as how it protected his overly sensitive senses. Chakra was humming in his body, he felt fit to burst with it, nearly sick with the over-abundance of the sapphire chakra pressing against his straining coils. It hurt just to exist and Kakashi didn't know how Rin had not been incapacitated. But then again, he had always been sensitive to other chakra. His own was different. White and dense, packed neatly and tight, while the sapphire one was fluid and bubbling, like a giant rushing river.

 

A low, hoarse moan slipped out before he could help it, but there was no enemy to take notice. The presence in front of him moved slightly, but his instincts deemed it safe. If Kakashi could only think straight...

Instead a burst of sapphire chakra made him nearly pass out again, before his own, struggling chakra managed to push it back to a bearable level.

Carefully Kakashi cracked his hurting eyes open. He was never, ever going to use contact lenses again, that much he was sure about. His eyes stung, feeling gritty and dry, and he could make out the blurry sight of something small down at his feet. He barely had the energy to lift his head, so it was convenient that it was staring up at him while he was staring down.

 

It was barking. Kakashi blinked, thoughts sluggish and slow. It seemed strangely familiar.

 

“-ashi!” Pakkun whisper-barked, and finally Kakashi's sight cleared enough to recognize his most loyal companion.

 

“P...kun...” he rasped out, and tried to smile reassuringly at the pug staring at him aghast. It was not an expression he had ever seen on Pakkun, nor one he ever wanted to see again. His Ninken was sassy and pushy and cute. It made Kakashi gather his resolve, made him slowly, carefully gather the little strength he had acquired during his unconscious travels and finally find his feet again.

 

“'s... not so... bad.” he tried to reassure, but honestly... he kind of wished that Sakura was already born and ready to tear the ground apart in a fit of anger. He... missed her. A little.

 

She at least had never confined him in a hospital bed, instead she used to patch him up in a short, bearable burst of green glowing chakra and then send him home with strict instructions and effective threats if he didn't comply with her wishes

 

“And if I find out you went out instead of resting...” she would say, one hand firmly planted at her hip as she narrowed her jade-green eyes at him “I'm going to level each and every single bookstore before making Sasuke burn your collection.”

 

On another occasion she had grabbed him as he was about to leave, drawing him in until they were nearly nose to nose.

 

“If I find out you had symptoms, and you didn't come to tell me about them...” here she released him, gently stroking out and imagined wrinkles on his vest as he carefully took a step back “Well.” she murmured, smiling in pleasure that at the same time send shivers down Kakashi's back.

 

“I will heal you up, but maybe there may be a mishap and my hand might slip and it would be a sad end to the Hatake line.”

 

Yes. Healers were monsters. He was absolutely right to avoid them except when absolutely necessary.

He hadn't liked her, whenever she did that, but he sort-off missed it now.

 

Pakkun clearly didn't believe him, instead he circled him and clearly contemplated how to go about getting Kakashi out of the bindings and not make his summoner face-plant into the ground.

 

“I think your definition of not so bad might have a slightly different meaning than mine.” Pakkun huffed, but sat down in front of him, putting a paw at Kakashi's ripped up trousers, a reassuring small gesture that probably benefited Pakkun more than it did his summoner. Kakashi struggled, but pain was not unfamiliar to him, even if the pain of a Bijuu's chakra was not something he had ever had to deal with. He could deal with it, as he always had, if with a little more effort and struggle.

 

“'s okay.” Kakashi mumbled, his voice gaining some strength as he tried to shove some of the pain to the back of his mind. He could feel his chakra – low as it was from his fight with the Kiri-nin – struggling weakly against the sapphire strands invading his body “Can't... can't go. I want to... I really want to return to **Konoha**... but can't.” Pakkun would understand. After all, he too was from the future and knew about what had happened to Rin.

 

Kakashi breathed heavily out, trying to ignore the desperate longing in his chest. **Home** , it whispered to him, like a steady mantra, as if he was the needle of a compass being pulled to the lodestone.

 

He had not thought that this would happen to him. Or, well, he had contemplated it as a possible solution but dismissed it as the worst case scenario aside from his death and Rin's death.

 

He would have preferred any of his other plans, and there had been a multitude of them. Becoming a Jinchūriki was too risky, Kakashi didn't know if his body could even hold the Bijuu for a prolonged time, if it would still adapt, or if it would burn him out in a most painful way. Currently it felt like the latter would happen to him and it made him...

 

Angry.

 

He had miscalculated. Badly. He didn't know where he had started to fuck this whole thing up but he had and things had gotten complicated. He was _needed_ for the future. If the worst happened and things repeated themselves, then Kakashi would be playing an important part. What would happen if he died, and the knowledge of the future with him??

 

“-kashi!!” Pakkun's voice dragged him out of his thoughts and Kakashi looked down at the small pug, contemplating his options.

 

“I...” Kakashi hesitated, then sighed and let his head drop forward again, too tired to keep it up and Pakkun had seen him at hist worst anyways.

 

“Can you... keep watch?” he didn't like being at the mercy of his enemies, but while Pakkun could probably gnaw through his ropes, Kakashi wasn't really in a state to defend himself and the cursed seal was making him want to return to Konoha, no matter what. For now, it would be better to stay where he was, even if it galled him to be this helpless and weak. At least he knew they wouldn't kill him.

“Just... bite me and unsummon yourself if someone gets close...” Kakashi murmured tiredly.

 

“What are you going to do, Kakashi?” Pakkun's hindpaw tabbed the ground in irritation. Clearly he was unhappy to not be able to do much more.

 

“I... I need to find a way to contact the... the Sanbi.”

 

He knew much more about Bijuu than before, seeing Naruto grow up and build a rapport with Kurama had given him an insight that this time and most of the Jinchūriki's in it lacked.

 

That, and having the experience of a Yamanaka rifling through his mind after long, S-ranked missions to assure his continued loyalty to the village. He knew how his mindscape felt and hoped that it wouldn't be too hard to get there on his own. Was that even where the Bijuu was? He had thought so, but had never confirmed it with Naruto.

 

The sapphire chakra was building up again, making Kakashi grit his teeth at the feeling of his body being invaded by the foreign chakra. _It didn't belong_. Sweat dripped down his brow, leaving Kakashi panting as it receded, forced back once more by the seal that barely contained it.

He and that Bijuu in his body needed to have a talk. If they were cohabiting his body and if Kakashi wanted to be able to still change the future, he couldn't have the Bijuu working against him. Besides, it did concern the Bijuu. Maybe, even if he died, the Sanbi could somehow warn the others and make a difference. Not that he preferred to die, but he had to realistically agree that his condition and situation was far from the best.

Naruto had babbled something about a shared mindscape but honestly, Kakashi had not been sure if that was a delusion of his student or if it was true and if it was... was still a option to see if he could follow Obito and Rin and escape this madness? Would there even be an afterlife with people remembering the future that hopefully would never come to pass?  
  
There were things Kakashi was completely comfortable staying out of, and having a Bijuu sealed inside him had been one such thing.

 

Now here he was. Stuck in a cave, useless hands throbbing at his side and a barely functioning seal keeping a Bijuu at bay that was intent on breaking out.

 

“This is so messed up...” Kakashi sighed, letting his head fall forward again, sagging against the bonds to preserve his little strength.

 

“Ridiculous. This is a plan worthy of a knuckle-head” but clearly, all his other plans went out of the window when fate intervened and had him captured, despite his preparations.

 

Kakashi closed his lids, the eye-contacts were lying uncomfortably on his eyes, itching and still hurting. He breathed deeply, trying to centre himself.

 

“'m sorry, Pakkun.... you get out of here as soon as it looks like I'm loosing control, you hear me?” Kakashi rasped out, opening one eye to stare down at his pug. Noting the stubborn stare, Kakashi frowned.

 

“I mean it.”

 

“Bite me.” Pakkun replied, putting his back to Kakashi, clearly intent on ignoring his summoners opinion if he thought said summoner was being stupid. Kakashi wanted to groan. Or laugh. A rusty chuckle escaped, that made him wince as the ropes cut uncomfortably into his sides and arms.

Knowing he couldn't change Pakkun's mind, he closed his eyes again, breathing in deep and letting the breath out slowly.   
  
Bound and captured he might be, but he had Pakkun watching over him, and that thought settled him more than anything. Pakkun who had stayed with him when Kakashi had been too young to stand on his own, yet had been forced to step up and become an adult as fast as possible when his father had died. He who had managed to keep a facade of a put-together shinobi up, who had struggled to restore his family's name, and who had resolved to abide to the rules of the shinobi no matter what.

 

A child who at night had curled up in a big, old and empty house. Who had flinched when floorboards cracked as they moved in the night, shuddered when there was a storm raging outside and lightning lit up the room, making shadows into creatures and figures of nightmares.

But Pakkun and the pack had simply piled into the room as if they belonged and the world didn't seem so lonely or bad when his Ninken cuddled up to him, creating a big, warm pile of wiggling limbs and fur. Buru's snores covered the sound of the house croaking and creaking, while Pakkun had ordered to be petted on the belly until Kakashi felt drowsy.

 

And even years later, there were few things that settled Kakashi as well as his Ninken's presence.

 

Deep breaths, in, and out.

 

In.

 

And out.

 

And Kakashi let himself fall, concentrating on turning inwards.

 

He fell, and fell and he welcomed it.

 

When he landed, he took a moment to brace himself, before he opened his eyes.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pakkun!!! :D The first to arrive!
> 
> Sorry about the late update. I got home late yesterday, and I did write this chapter but I was so tired that I couldn't proof-read it in time. By then it was about 3 am, and I decided to update today instead. I found a few very weird sentences in there, so it's probably good I checked it over with a sound mind :P


	16. Mindscape

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song I listened to while writing the chapter:
> 
> Agnes Obel - [Familiar](https://soundcloud.com/agnes-obel-1/familiar)

This was by far not the first time Kakashi had entered his mindscape. Only this time he was not accompanied by a Yamanaka, but alone. He knew the dangers of one being alone in his mindscape, had seen his fair share of comrades that had gotten in too deep and hadn't been able to find the way out alone anymore. In some cases the Yamanaka could help, could enter and seek out the lost person and lead them back. In others...

 

Entering ones mindscape was done through meditation, in most cases, but sometimes it happened when one was unconscious or near death or even during torture, though in the latter, the interrogator would most likely use different techniques to draw the person back before he or she got too far. There was no information to be found in a comatose captive after all.

 

If one got lost in memories of the past – or liked the past better than the present – it was tempting to simply... stay lost. It was one reason why Kakashi had _never_ attempted this on his own. He already lingered in past regrets too often to not be at risk. Too many memories he would rather dwell on than the bloody reality he had immersed himself in. But Kakashi was a realist. He didn't want to create his own dream world, and after the fourth shinobi war he was certain that he had enough willpower by now to not fall prey to the trap his own mind might become.

 

After the sensation of falling, Kakashi opened his eyes. His mindscape always changed a little. He could remember the last time he had come here, how he had looked around.

 

Usually his mindscape resembled a clear, nearly endless stretching pond of water. In peaceful times, it's surface was almost as smooth as a mirror, reflecting the blue sky up above. Structures old and new perforated the water surface, most of them familiar one way or another. There were weapons sticking out, some covered in rust and moss, others still clear and sharp as the day they were made, making it look like a battlefield of old, when nobody had bothered with the clean-up and nature had taken it upon itself to hide the destruction wrought years ago. Some of the more decayed buildings were looking more like tombstones than the homes they had once been. There were trees around, some healthy, others looking like they had been struck by lightning, bare yet still standing tall. Leaves swimming gently over the water surface, little memories drifting by and swirling merrily in an invisible breeze. Despite the destruction, it was a peaceful view... most of the time.

 

So long as one didn't look underneath the surface, everything seemed perfectly fine. Kakashi had always lived by the quote 'look underneath the underneath', and his mind clearly had adapted to that.

 

If one were to look under the water surface, they would find his darkest memories. As if drowning them would keep them from overwhelming him, but every so often they would break the surface and he would remember...

 

During his years of ANBU, the water had been more red then clear though. Often times it had risen until it had reached his ankles, or knees, making wading through it harder than it needed to be.

 

Kakashi had been prepared for a lot, considering his current state, but the howling storm that was wrecking around his mind had not been it.

Clouds covered the clear sky, lightning streaking through them and sometimes hitting the water that was turbulent and grey, crashing waves rising up like grasping hands.

 

For a moment Kakashi stood still, immediately soaked to the bone and looking around in mute horror. Then he dragged a hand through his soggy hear and sighed.

 

“Yare, yare.” looking around, the biggest change was quite obvious. In the far off distance Kakashi could see a humongous cave, and that is where he dashed off to.

 

( ･_\\\\)ﾉ-≒≒≒≒≒≒≒≒≒≒⁂

 

Kakashi had struggled to even arrive at the cave, the water was cold, and the wind howled. It was strange to think that this was his mind, it felt much to real. At long last he arrived at the entrance of the cave and cautiously – yet slightly relieved to escape the storm – entered.

 

The cave led into darkness, that Kakashi had to put a hand to the dripping walls to keep moving forward. It seemed like an eternity passed, as he slowly moved closer to the source of the sapphire chakra that made the air in the tunnel heavier by the minute. Not only that, but Kakashi could hear the enraged roars echoing though the path he had taken, making his ears ring from the volume.

Finally he could make out a lit up cavern up ahead and slowed, trying to see the situation before he got crushed without ever being allowed to speak.

 

A quick look inside the cave showed that the little light that made it possible to see stemmed from a few holes in the ceiling. Water from the rain poured down, and directly below in the middle of the cave was the Bijuu, wrapped in chains so it could hardly move and struggling against it's bonds. It's tails trashed around, trying to rid itself of his bindings with no success. The shallow water that collected in puddles on the ground splashed to the sides, soaking the walls and the Sanbi roared again, fury and helpless rage and pain all collected into one sound.

 

Kakashi felt his breath leave him in a shuddering sigh. Being told that the Bijuu were misunderstood and actually quite friendly was something entirely different if you were standing in front of one, but it's not like Kakashi had a choice here.

 

Carefully he stepped into the cave, sticking to the walls and trying to get a good view of the situation before he drew attention. He could see the seal in the chains wrapped around the Sanbi, that were connected to the stone. A few links had already snapped, but the Sanbi was far from getting free. But it _was_ possible that it could get out of the bindings and free itself, that much was clear to Kakashi.

 

Clearing his throat, heart hammering in his chest, Kakashi slowly stepped closer until he was standing just out of range of the Bijuu's trashing body.

 

“Yo.” he tried. The Sanbi ignored him.

 

Kakashi stared at the three-tails and finally noticed what should have been obvious from the beginning:

 

There was a turtle inside him.

Oh kami, Gai had infected him and there was a turtle inside him.

 

Now, how to draw the attention of the Sanbi?

 

Why, get in it's face and stick there. The face seemed to be the safest place, as for one the Sanbi would have to hit itself into it to dislodge Kakashi, but also because the bindings made it hard for it to reach there.

 

Without further overthinking it, Kakashi jumped, landed just a little way above the Sanbi's opened eye and bend down to give a cheery salute.

 

“Yo!”

 

The Sanbi stilled, eye locking onto Kakashi. Then it roared, so loud it rattled Kakashi's bones and trashed even more. Only Kakashi's feet glowing with chakra prevented him from being flung into a wall. As it was, he nearly got dislodged anyways and only a quick jump to the ceiling saved him from being squished.

 

“I come in peace?” Kakashi tried, dodging one of the ripped chains that the Sanbi wielded with pinpoint accuracy.

 

Dear gods above, how had Naruto dealt with Kurama?? Kakashi managed to dodge until he was at the edge of the cave. He held his hands up, trying to appear as non-threatening as possible.

 

“I only want to talk. That's all.” he shouted, keeping a weary eye on any movement.

 

The Sanbi stilled again, growling and panting from it's near continuous struggles for freedom.

 

“ **You dare...!** ” the Sanbi roared, twisting to try and look at Kakashi and _whimpering_ when the chains nearly choked him. Kakashi – despite being quite terrified – felt something twist inside him at the sound. It had a likeness to his Ninken that just made protective instincts well up.

 

“ **Puny human! I'll crush you!** ” it roared again.

 

“I'd really you rather don't...” Kakashi sighed, staying well out of range and contemplating the options. He knew that the Sanbi probably wasn't only a ball of rage as it seemed right now. Even Kurama, so full of hate, had another side to him.

 

“Can we just... talk?” he tried again, but the Bijuu was more concerned about getting free again, and truthfully... Kakashi couldn't blame it. Not only because it didn't want to be here, but the seal it was stuck in was anything but comfortable.

 

Once more Kakashi eyed the chains, contemplating. With a sigh and wondering if this was how he would die, Kakashi powered up a Chidori, drawing the attention of the tailed beast again, that roared and struggled and prepared to fight.

 

Running up a wall, Kakashi ignored it, only keeping his attention on it in case it decided to attack him before he got far.

 

His hand stuck out, and the chain shattered.

 

With an earth-shaking sound, the Sanbi finally fell on the ground. There were still a lot of chains wrapped around it, but the chain that Kakashi had snapped had slackened the hold it had and gave the Bijuu more room to move. Even though it had the space now, the Sanbi stayed still for a stunned moment. Kakashi used the time to retreat back to the entrance of the cave, ready to duck back in the tunnel if the Sanbi decided to use its new freedom to try and crush Kakashi.

 

Truthfully, this was probably the most stupid thing he had ever done in his life. If the Sanbi wasn't willing to listen to him and decided to rip itself free, it was game over for Kakashi. He would die once the Bijuu left him, releasing the Bijuu to run on a rampage.

 

“Can we talk?” Kakashi tried again, eye-balling the Bijuu that kept one, narrowed eye on the human in front of it.

 

“ **...** ” carefully, the Sanbi tested its range of movement. Then it looked back at Kakashi, to the chains, and back to Kakashi as if it couldn't understand his thought process. This was such a Naruto plan that Kakashi wasn't surprised that it even had the ability to stun a Bijuu into silence.

 

“ **Why would you do that...?** ” the Sanbi growled, still agitated but not nearly blind in its rage anymore. It pulled a little on the chains, but finally got enough slack to settle almost comfortably on the ground.

 

Kakashi shrugged. He couldn't tell it that it was because it was whimpering like a dog trapped in a fox-trap.

 

“It's more comfortable now, isn't it?” Kakashi said instead, slouching back into the cave now that it didn't seem like the Sanbi was about to take his head off.

 

“Besides... this might take some time.” it wasn't like Kakashi could explain the future years and manipulations in a matter of minutes.

 

“ **What would a human care about a monsters comfort?** ” The Sanbi hissed, curling up a little, tails wrapping over his body until he was as protected as he could be, with chains still partly immobilising.

 

“... I know you are not monsters.” Kakashi carefully said. “In fact, I think you are lonely and obviously not here by choice. It took me a while but I think I can understand your anger, at least a little.”

 

“ **...** ” the Sanbi looked Kakashi up and down “ **So you will set me free then?** ” it asked, honey lacing it's tone in a poisonous way. Kakashi winced.

 

“Ah... well, that would kill me too now, wouldn't it?” Kakashi said with a little flinch. He didn't want to die after all, not with so many things to do and change. Just as the beast shifted in anger he put up his hands again and quickly added “Let me talk! If after this conversation you still want to be free, I will find a way to do so.” away from Konoha. And Rin. Far away, maybe in Kiri? Kidding, they needed every Ninja available if they wanted to face the future... Kakashi couldn't afford to go on a rampage and then die, taking with him whoever could have played an important part in the fourth war.

 

The Sanbi watched him in sceptical mistrust.

 

“ **...** ” for a moment it seemed to think it over, then the tension in its frame relaxed as it curled up as much as it could on the ground once more.

 

“ **Talk then.** ” it said “ **But if you lie... I will make sure you die a painful death.** ” it grumbled, muttering under his breath what Kakashi wasn't supposed to hear, but couldn't help listen to with his sensitive hearing. Several rather creative ways of how the Sanbi could make sure Kakashi regretted ever being born.

 

Breathing out a shaky breath, Kakashi stepped a little bit further inside. Still out of reach of the Sanbi, but closer. Carefully he sat down on one of the dryer patches on the ground, putting his hands in his lap and hoping beyond hope that this would work out well.

 

“Alright. That's fair.” Kakashi nodded, and tried to remember if Naruto ever said anything about the temper of the Sanbi, or how it acted.

 

“First, let me tell you a story.”

 

“ **A story?** ” the Sanbi asked, clearly amused but also... childishly curious. It turned its head a little sideways, bringing his eye closer to Kakashi and blinking lazily.

 

“ **I like stories.** ” it muttered, and Kakashi had to blink back twice to make sure he had heard correctly. It sounded... young. Now that it wasn't screaming anymore.

 

“Alright.” Kakashi said and then ploughed straight ahead.

 

“Let me tell you about the story of the gutsy ninja called Naruto.”

 

“It all started when a boy was born...” and thus Kakashi detailed the life of Naruto, slowly expanding with little to no interruptions from the tailed beast sitting in front of him, listening in enraptured silence.

 

If he summarised the first few years, to get to the later years sooner, well... they were on a time limit after all.

 

Explanations could come later.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the FIRST fanart I ever received for one of my fanfics, thank you so, so much!! Made by [YoKoChi150](https://archiveofourown.org/users/YoKoChi150/pseuds/YoKoChi150) on [DeviantArt](https://www.deviantart.com/yokochi150):
> 
>  
> 
> [Kakashi's and Isobu's first meeting](https://www.deviantart.com/yokochi150/art/Kakashi-Isobu-756640258)
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> Sorry about the wait. But hey, the chapter is extra long! The longest in this story so far!
> 
> I've had a bit of... uh... trouble. I managed to break a glas vase and because I'm an idiot, decided I could fix that by just... soldering them back together.  
> The positive: It worked. Sort of. It's a bit uh... rough on some edges but I'm sure nobody will notice a thing, right?  
> The negative: I burned 3 of my finders in the process and nearly took a toe off. Ow.
> 
> Additionally I actually had to rewrite most of the chapter because a cat decided to walk over my laptop and step on the off button......................................
> 
> I'm calling him satan-spawn now. He's clearly possessed by evil. Either that or I am cursed right now Q_Q


	17. Rescue

Kakashi was still in the process of explaining the end of the fourth shinobi-war when he felt a disturbance that shocked him out of his meditative state. He came back to himself almost violently, when he felt someone touch his _bare_ face. Even before he opened his eyes, his pulse skyrocked in confusion and anger, a snarl on his bloodied lips.

 

_Pakkun._

 

This was not how he should have woken up. There was no sharp sting of teeth sinking into his leg. Pakkun should have bitten him if _anyone_ approached, bitten him long before anyone could get close enough _to touch_. So if he didn't, Kakashi could only conclude in the second it took him to become aware, that someone had gotten to Pakkun and Kakashi couldn't... he couldn't stand it if something happened to his Ninken.

 

_Pakkun was **his**._

 

Still growling, lips pulled back over slightly sharper than a normal human's canines, Kakashi's eyes snapped open, unfocused as the eye-contacts were still hurting his eyes and making them water from opening them too quick.

 

A moment later the smell registered. More powerful than ever before, since the mask was gone.

 

_Lavenderherbsmorningdew._

 

“R-rin...” the name slipped out before his sight cleared up and he could see his teammate standing in front of him, tears in her eyes as she stared at Kakashi as if he had torn her heart out. Again. Frantically Kakashi's eyes moved down to her chest, breath leaving him in a shuddering sigh when he saw no visible wounds on her body.

 

 _Alivealivealive._ He repeated it like a mantra as his pulse slowly settled.

 

Pakkun was crouching next to her, butt wiggling in place, clearly unhappy and undecided as to what he should do. Kakashi breathed easier seeing that the pug was unharmed too.

 

And then he realized what was going on. Rin. Rin was here. With enemies surrounding them on all sides. She had a kunai in hand and making quick work of his ropes, and Kakashi wasn't ready. He still needed to finish talking to the Sanbi, he couldn't be released yet...!

 

“What are _you doing here...!_ ” Kakashi whispered aghast. No. No, she should be safe! Minato should have gotten her back to the village. This was wrong. She shouldn't be anywhere near...!

 

“Saving you.” she said, sniffling slightly, trying to blink away the tears in her eyes but her hands were steady as she cut through the ropes holding Kakashi up. He felt them snap, and stumbled weakly forward, not entirely prepared to hold his own weight. Her arms quickly rose up to catch his fall and he felt a shudder go though her as she let out a tiny sob, clutching to him in desperation. Tiredly he dropped his head on her shoulder, breathed in her skin and tried to anchor himself in the knowledge that she was still alive.

 

“Rin... Rin, listen to me...” the seal pulled and Kakashi winced. The need to return to **Konoha** was _so_ strong, making him almost forget what he wanted to say. Forget the pain and stand up to rush back **home**.

 

“I need you to go. You hear me? You need to go back to **Konoha** , right now.”  
  
He could feel her shake her head, stubbornly. Her hands glowed green as she went over his injuries and tried to quickly fix him up, to see where his worst injuries were. He could see, feel and smell her horror when she finally noticed his hands.

 

“Oh kami...” she whispered, trembling and then Kakashi heard a tiny scuff of something disturbing the ground behind her, finally noticed the figure standing only a short way away. He twitched, his head snapping up in alarm and despite the pain he used his hands to shove her slightly to the side, trying to shield her with his body. The fast movement disoriented him and clearly showed that he wasn't well enough for a fight but if he could just stall for time-

 

Okita took a step back, hands rising up in a show that he was unarmed and Kakashi relaxed slightly. A hand near his face made him snap his attention back to Rin, who carefully tugged at his ripped mask and carefully pulled it over his chin, trying to settle the torn fabric back in place.

 

Kakashi's heart broke a little at the gesture. It wasn't needed, and yet Rin always thought of other's comfort first and foremost and despite not knowing his exact reasons, she knew he was more comfortable with the mask on.

 

“We came to safe you...” Okita whispered, glancing uneasily to the exit “But we should really go. Now.” he hurried over now that Kakashi had clearly seen him as a comrade and for a moment seemed to want to try and take Kakashi's arm, before he too noticed the state of the limb and winced in sympathy.

 

“Ah.” he muttered, looking a bit green in the face. Instead he grabbed Kakashi by one of his armour straps and heaved, until Kakashi was standing on his own two feet again. A bit unsteady, swaying in place but in any other situation Kakashi would have appreciated the gesture.

 

Right now it was really inconvenient and Kakashi could feel his plans dissolve like mist in his grasping hands.

 

“You need to leave me and go back.” Kakashi whispered, but Okita rolled his eyes and Rin looked about ready to slap him if he didn't get moving.

  
“We will head out. When it's safe enough I will try to heal some of your injuries and then we will run back to the village.” Rin decided, and her tone brooked no argument.

 

“It's a trap...!” Kakashi tried but got a slight shove in his back, that made him stumble forward.

 

“Less talking, more walking.” Okita smiled and Kakashi wanted to strangle him. He really did.

 

The way out of the cave was the same as Kakashi remembered. This time though, the enemy nin did give them some more time to escape, and once outside Rin took the time to heal some of the deep-purpeling bruises on his body. She stayed clear of his arms, despite looking like she desperately wanted to do something about it, but healing them in the wrong way could permanently end Kakashi's career as a shinobi. Setting the bones would take time they probably didn't have, at least not this close to the enemy. It was more important to get Kakashi up and running again first, before she could concentrate on his arms.

 

When she finally, very carefully took out the contact lenses without questioning why Kakashi had them in to begin with, and put a green-glowing hand over his eyes to heal the damage, Kakashi wanted to either flinch away or moan in relief. Instead he sat in silence, and tried to ignore the desperate longing to start running back to **Konoha**.

 

He needed to get rid of that seal. He knew now why Rin had insisted that he kill her, if that was what she had felt then she wouldn't have thought that they would find a solution quickly enough to stop her from entering **Konoha**.

 

“ **I can crush your tiny heart, if you want me to.** ” the Sanbi offered helpfully, if a bit too eagerly for Kakashi's taste. Kakashi winced, not only because of the unexpected voice in his head but also at the image of he Sanbi crushing his heart.He drew Rin's concerned glance before he tried to think back at the Sanbi, closing his eyes in concentration. He wasn't even sure how this worked, but he didn't want to be labelled as crazy if he started to talk to nothing.

“ _Thanks._ ” the time-traveler thought in his driest voice “ _I think I'll pass._ ”

 

He got a weird feeling of amusement and shuddered at the strange feeling that wasn't his but seemed to bleed over, muted but there.

 

He flinched when Rin took his hand and started the long and arduous task of setting the bones of his right arm.

 

“Gnh.” Kakashi bit his teeth together, trying to refrain from making a sound despite his vision almost blacking out again. When the pain almost became too much, he turned his head and bit himself into the shoulder to keep silent. The enemy wouldn't kill him, but now that he was free, they also didn't need to keep the others alive and Kakashi would be damned if they got killed because of him.

 

“ **Humans heal so slowly...** ” the Sanbi idly commented. The sentence made Kakashi's thoughts whirr.

 

“ _... could you... heal a heart?_ ” he mused back, contemplating the options he had to get rid of the seal. Destroying it would mean attacking his heart and he himself wasn't able to do it. Something prevented him from even raising a hand to his chest. It seemed he would have to do, what Rin had done and kill himself, but she had died. Naruto had barely survived a Chidori to his chest. Was it the difference in their Bijuu that made it possible for Naruto to survive what Rin could not, or was it something else? Sasuke had missed the heart, at least partly. Kakashi did not.  
  
“ **... I** _ **probably**_ **could heal a heart...** ” the Sanbi muttered, sounding a little unsure in a way that made Kakashi hesitate to trust the statement “ **... provided it's not** _ **entirely**_ **gone. If I have something to work with I** _ **could**_ **do it...** ”

 

Rin was starting to finish up with his hand, when Kakashi felt several presences get closer to their location. His head snapped around towards the small path they had taken to get out of the cave.

 

“Kakashi...” Pakkun warned, fur bristling as he stared at the tunnel they had just left from.

 

“Tch.” Kakashi had hoped they would have more time.

 

“Run.” he whispered, his mostly healed right hand pushing Rin away from his still mangled left one. They didn't have any more time, as his absence had been noticed. Neither Okita nor Rin argued with him, knowing that his senses were better than theirs and they should better not argue.

 

Kakashi bit his right-hand thumb, and with some one-handed seals that felt so off and painful in his freshly healed hand – and slow in his opinion as he was used to be able to form handsigns much more quickly, even one-handed – he slammed his hand on the ground.

 

“Ninpou: Kuchiyose!”

 

In a cloud of smoke his pack appeared, all of them turning to him and growling when they saw the state he was still in.

 

“Distract!” he said and didn't need to add more. His Ninken dashed away, and he pushed himself off the ground to join Okita and Rin, both keeping watch before they started to run. It jostled his injured arm and Kakashi flinched, trying to keep the limb as immobilised as he could. He didn't want to slow them down. Rin threw him concerned glances every now and then, while Okita looked behind to see if the pursuers were gaining on them.

 

And Kakashi's heart pulled, and pulled and Konoha drew closer by the second.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heh, long awaited rescue, huh? But Rin is there, and Okita and Minato is still on his way, but not only him but Zetsu will be putting his plan to work and Obito's appearance is also drawing closer :) Excited?
> 
> I'm kinda taking a liking to Okita even though I don't even know what he looks like or what he is. I thought Taijutsu specialist? He might appear a few more times ^^


	18. Yellow Flash

Minato felt the seal get closer and closer. It couldn't be much longer before he could use the Hiraishin and he desperately hoped he wouldn't be too late. Too much time, way too much time had passed since Kakashi had thrown it the first time and yet... it had been moving, up until a moment ago and it gave Minato hope that he could still manage to get to his student in time. Sweat was covering him, as trees flew past. His entire focus was on the seal, so he could flash to it as soon as he came in range. It was just too bad that where ever Kakashi had gone to, it had been the exact opposite direction than where Minato had been stationed at the front line, closer to the Water Country than the Stone Country where Minato had been holding the front-line. He had passed Konoha to the bewilderment of the guards stationed on patrol, not even stopping for a greeting as he flashed past, the few Hiraishin he had in the village helping him save some time before he had flashed out of the village just as quickly.

 

Finally, after two and a half days he felt the seal strongly enough, gathered his chakra and in a flash of yellow and gold disappeared without a trace.

 

When he reappeared, hand curled around the three-pronged kunai in mid-throw, he took a second to recognize his surroundings, another second to deflect the weapons headed his way and a third second to feel his heart shatter.

 

 

 

[ ](http://www.directupload.net)

 

Kakashi stood in the middle of the clearing, surrounded by Kiri-shinobi. Minato could see blood, so much blood covering his student, and the rain that poured down at them ran red at his apprentice feet. His right arm had punched a hole through the brown haired kunoichi, clothed in a vaguely familiar style. But no. No, _it couldn't be_.

 

As if that wasn't enough, Minato could see that there were several kunai sticking out of Kakashi, as if mocking Minato. If only he had been faster...

  
  


He was so quick.

  
  


Always so quick, but every time not fast enough.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ♥
> 
> Love you guys. Have a nice day/sleep well, story end. Yeeeeey!
> 
> Kidding. See you tomorrow!
> 
> d=(´▽｀)=b
> 
> P.S.: I do not know the artist of this particular picture. If anyone knows, please tell me. It just fit so well that I couldn't resist D: But I would like to ask permission/will take it down if permission isn't granted


	19. Living Nightmare

For a moment all Kakashi could see was the brown hair, soft, pale skin and lips strained in red. Brown eyes widened in surprise and pain and for a moment Kakashi thought he heard her whisper his name the sound tumbling out with her last breath as if from far away as the last of the electricity faded away with a soft crackle.

 

A nightmare come alive.

 

No. Nono. No. This couldn't be happening again. _Nono_ _ **nonono**_.

 

The world blurred, spun and splintered around him, memory overlapping with reality and Kakashi let out a small, choked sob and wondered if this is what Obito had felt, the beginning of madness creeping in.

 

“ _ **KAKASHI!!**_ ”

 

A shout, strong and far away. Kakashi blinked, tears sliding down his cheeks and the image in front of him cleared up again.

 

 

 [](https://ibb.co/jfqeYo)

 

 

The woman on his arm stared back blankly. A surprised look etched to her face. The headband showed the sign of Kiri, his hand had burst through her ribcage, straight through her beating heart, that burst like an overripe fruit around his hand. She had light brown hair and some similarities to Rin, but she _wasn't_. She wasn't Rin, because Rin was screaming his name desperately somewhere behind him.

 

And reality rightened itself again, somewhat.

 

Slowly Kakashi looked down on himself and stared at the kunai sticking out of his chest, ignoring the others that had hit his arms and legs. He had become a pincushion of the multiple weapons thrown by different enemies at one spot, the spot Okita had occupied a second ago. He couldn't even tell, he was in so much pain already that this hadn't even fully registered. Not really. Not with Rin dying but not dying in front of him again. He could feel the blood coat his arm slowly beginning to cool and drip down to the earth from his elbow. So similar to his nightmares that Kakashi wasn't completely sure if he was awake or dreaming.

 

He could also feel the blood gathering in his lung, and how his heart frantically pumped, slicing itself again and again on the sharp edge of the kunai buried in his chest, only just scraping his heart.

 

Ah. That.

 

The pursuers had finally caught up to them. Rin and Okita had been unwilling to leave Kakashi behind, despite his insistence. He could have stalled for time, and the Kiri-nin wouldn't have killed him. Instead they had to slow down, because Kakashi's injured arm made him nearly black out on several occasions, and when he finally missed a landing – slipping on a tree-branch of all things when it started to rain – Okita had been quick enough to react and catch him before he hit the ground.

 

They had continued on the ground. It was slower, yet safer for Kakashi and his teammates could stick close to him this way.

 

Only it had slowed them too much against the Jonin pursuers, and their escape slowly turned into a hunt and they hadn't much of a choice but leave the trees, try to take the shortest way towards Konoha through a clearing of flat stone with not enough cover.

 

Only to realize that the enemy had gotten past them. Gotten ahead of them, and were now cutting them off. Clearly, they only intended for Kakashi to reach his home.

 

And clearly they didn't know what was healthy for them.

 

Nor did his teammates, Rin who settled at his side, body turned so he was mostly cut off from his enemy and Okita, who stood in front of them in a Taijutsu stance, trying to cover them both with weapons ready to use.

 

It didn't matter though. They were surrounded on all sides and... and Kakashi wasn't fit to fight and needed to get rid of the seal.

 

It all happened so quickly, or maybe Kakashi was too exhausted to keep up with everything, his vision tunnelling. He could see Okita engaging the enemy head on, his eyes – the Sharingan – tracking every movement. His right hand clutched at Rin, trying to tug her to himself and cover her while he searched for a way out for them. His eyes went over the other enemies spread out around them, seeing their amused expressions and their readied weapons. They knew. They knew that his team didn't have a chance to survive this and it amused them. They were playing with him.

 

And Okita, from the back... he looked a little like Obito. Dark, wild hair sticking up in all directions. A bit taller and more muscular, and different clothing but still similar in his movement and stubbornness to keep the enemy away from Rin. Kakashi hadn't noticed that before, but with his dark hair and rushing recklessly at the enemy... Kakashi felt sick, and his heart was in his throat as he watched a kunoichi engage him, her laugher clear over the clashing sounds of weapons and dull thuds of limbs engaging in battle. Even through the rain pouring down as if the heavens were crying was drowning out everything else. Her brown hair whipped through the air, sending droplets of water flying as she blocked Okita's strikes with easy confidence, only to retaliate when he made a mistake and left his flank open to her attack. Kakashi remembered her from the sealing cave. She had stood further away, a dark-blue long-sleeved top, a light grey battle skirt around her waist fluttering over black pants. With the rain, her attire looked nearly black.

Okita doubled over from a fist to his gut, coughing as the air was driven out of him by sheer force. The kunoichi gave another, triumphant laugh and raised her kunai for the kill. Kakashi let go of Rin, his mind already flicking through endless amounts of jutsus as a cry wretched itself from Rin's throat. The Copy Nin felt himself move before he fully registered what was happening. One-handed hand seals were slower than he was used to, and more painful due to his recent injury that was only partially healed, but the silver haired Jonin had long since learned how to ignore pain. Kakashi had always been exceptionally fast with hand signs and even know, he would have to trust that it would be fast enough.

 

“Kawarimi!” he whispered, and even as he felt the tug of the replacement jutsu, his hand moved to the next sequence of seals that he knew by heart, a familiar chirping sound echoing in the sudden stillness that surrounded him, even before he fully landed. His chakra became dangerously low, what little he had managed to regain since he got captured sucked up with his signature technique. A pain in his chest registered but was ignored. Brown eyes illuminated by crackling lightning, widening in surprise and horror.

 

“Chidori” he rasped as his right hand mercilessly struck the heart in front of him with unerring accuracy brought by countless battles. It went through her skin, muscles and bone like a hot knife through butter, but Kakashi could find no pleasure in the kill as he stared at features so similar to Rin's, even as the lightning spluttered out with a weak crackle. The image wavered, his vision darkening in the corners as his sight grew dizzy for a moment. The Kiri-headband looked like a Konoha's leaf and purple marks appeared on her cheeks as blood dripped down from her lips. Her body sagged in his grip, falling into his embrace and pushing the kunai she had stabbed at him further into his body. A smooth, painful glide of steel against his rips and lungs, and finally his heart. A pain so intense that Kakashi didn't even notice several other weapons striking him from different directions. Memory or reality, Kakashi couldn't differentiate them anymore.

 

His hand was covered in sticky, warm blood.

 

Kakashi could feel it covering his arm, dripping down to his elbow, mingling with the cold water soaking him and her head slowly fell forward as Kakashi swayed under the additional weight.

 

Rin. Rin. Rin...

 

Wide eyed Kakashi blindly stared at the motionless, dead kunoichi on his arm, memories overlaying reality until Rin's scream had brought him out of it.

 

Out of the corner of his eyes Kakashi could see a yellow blur descent on the few remaining fleeing enemies, but what captured his attention now was just one thing:  
  
The cursed seal was slowly fading, and despite the pain Kakashi's eye crinkled happily. Smug satisfaction that at least one thing had gone right in this entire mess. The world seemed to turn still around him, the only sound the pitter-patter of rain and blood. His strength waned. Kakashi blinked water out of his eyes. His legs shook.

 

A second later – or was it several? Time became jumbled as Kakashi's legs slowly gave out – Minato-sensei stood in front of him, a mere blink and his sensei was suddenly there, taking Rin-but-not-Rin away while holding Kakashi up. His gaze frantically moved over Kakashi, stopping at the kunai protruding from his chest and his eyes widened in horrified realization. A low sound escaped Minato, like a glass cracking when set down too hard on a table. Without further ado he carefully gathered Kakashi in his arms and slowly, ever so carefully he managed to settle him on his knees before he fell and did more harm to himself.

 

His mask was already wet with blood as his head fell forward and rested his forehead on Minato's shoulder. A cough and a chuckle dragged some more of the blood out of his lungs, dripping into his mask.

Despite the pain he still managed to whisper a broken “yer ...late... sensei...” to Minato with a weak smile. Minato's hands guided him to the ground, until he was lying flat on his back staring at the cloud covered sky, rain caressing his face as if it wanted to wash away all the pain and blood. His sensei was staring down at him with heartbreak that made Kakashi's insides twist themselves into knots.

 

“... don't... look... like that.” he whispered, felt the blood that gathered in his lungs spill from his lips and soak the mask in an invisible strain on the dark cloth. Was this why Obito had smiled, until his very last moments before he had been buried by rocks? Because he hadn't wanted the last expression his teammates would see to be one of pain and suffering?

 

“ **...** ” the Sanbi's chakra slowly uncoiled in his chest, making Kakashi wince “ **... you can't die yet.** ” it suddenly said sullenly.

 

“not... not like I have... a choice...” Kakashi muttered, too tired to concentrate on having a mental conversation. Minato's brow furrowed, concerned, but his gaze cut over to something out of Kakashi's vision.

 

“What are you- nevermind. Don't talk.” Minato said while careful fingers probed around the kunai's. Heavy footsteps splashed close, making Kakashi wince. In the next moment Rin appeared, Pakkun close on her heels and Okita appearing just a moment later, holding a hand to his side.

 

Broken or at least cracked rips, Kakashi thought in detatched sympathy.

 

“ **... you promised to free me, after our conversation.** ” the Sanbi growled, then added softer “ **... and you haven't even ended the story yet.** ”

 

Kakashi felt his eye curve into a pained smile.

 

“Heh... so I did...” Kakashi felt his eyes close. Guess he was a liar on top of a failure. The future... Obito... everything would change, but Kakashi wouldn't be able to try and make it better.

 

The kunai had stabbed him right into his heart. It hurt and Kakashi had already died once before, nearly died many other times and could tell that this was not something he would be able to get through alive. He was bleeding heavily and every limb felt like lead. The cursed mark had been destroyed and Rin, leaning over him with tears running over her face was alive. Kakashi managed an eye-smile at her, green glowing hand pressing desperately at his chest to stem the bleeding and repair the damage. Already Kakashi knew it wouldn't be enough. If it was Tsunade, or maybe Sakura... then maybe. Or maybe if Rin had a few more years of training...

 

And then, from deep within there was a bubbling river breaking through a dam. Chakra breaking through links of the seals, breaking free and rushing through his body. Like a tidal wave, chakra flooded his coils, the pressure so great that Kakashi was sure they were just about to burst. His body struggled, muscles suddenly straining, convulsing as if he could relive the pressure that way and a guttural shout left his lungs. Too much, way too much chakra, so much that he felt it leak from his body, bubbling sapphire blue chakra rising up, making Rin back off with a shout of pain as the Bijuu's chakra burned her hands. Much, too much and Kakashi was left screaming himself hoarse. It was an unimaginable pain, as if he was just on the edge of being ready to explode.

 

Panicked bicoloured eyes met Minato's startled blue ones.

 

And yet, despite everything, Kakashi could feel no malice from the Sanbi.  
  
**I'm sorry, shinobi-kun. I'm trying to heal the damage but you are not used to my chakra. It will hurt, but I will not let you die. You owe me a story. And you promised me freedom.**

 

“ _C-can't ho-hold it. **Get. Away!”**_ was the last coherent words he managed before the chakra wiped away any logical thoughts. A shriek pierced the air, sounding inhuman and it took Kakashi a moment to realize that the sound was coming from _him_.

Kakashi barely had the mind to acknowledge the Bijuu, never mind comprehending the words. He fell back into his mindscape, landing in the shallow water of a cave and writhing in pain. The Sanbi, chained as he was made a mournful sound, much like how Kakashi imagined a whale sounded.

 

When the chakra finally receded it left Kakashi weak as a baby, shaking from overused and overstrained chakra coils, in pain and with another near death experience under his belt. No enemies remained. Kakashi didn't know if they fled, but he heavily suspected that Minato had dealt with them.

 

Blearily he blinked, his throat on fire. He saw Rin further away, struggling against Minato's hold who was eyeing him wearily, seals already being readied between his hands while holding on to Rin and Okita. When he saw Kakashi staring at them, his stance relaxed and in less than a second he was at Kakashi's side, slowly turning him onto his back from his curled up position on the ground. Kakashi groaned in misery. Rin was there a few moments later, angry tears in her wide eyes as she returned her hands to his chest, ignoring her own injuries to tend to his. Only to find nothing. The picture was all to close to his worst nightmares, and Kakashi's eyes desperately searched her face for any sign of blood. He couldn't... he couldn't have failed again, could he?

 

“What...?” she said in bewilderment, trying again just to be sure her readings had been correct.

 

“How...?” she asked, eyes wide as they met Kakashi's dropping ones.

 

Minato shook his head, mouthing later. Kakashi let his head loll to the side, eyes half-lidded and growing heavier by the second. That is, until he saw a shape at the edge of the tree-line. Sound was fading, but Kakashi's eyes were fixed on a shadowed figure just behind them, mostly hidden by the trees. It was struggling, enveloped in a white and all to familiar form. White hands grabbed for his head, clearly trying to tear away the white mass to see what was happening around him.

 

Obito.

 

Kakashi's hand twitched, pain lacing through his body as he tried to move, but other than his hand wiggling a few inches into Obito's direction, there wasn't much happening and Kakashi was rapidly loosing the ability to stay conscious.

 

“...i..to...” he tried through his raw-screamed throat, croaking the sounds only to be hushed by his female teammate. He tried again, but he couldn't even form the one name that was so important. If they only listened. If they only looked back instead of concentrating on him. Kakashi could see Zetsu surrounding Obito completely, and Kakashi managed to gather some last resources of strength to roll onto his side and get an arm under himself. With shaking limbs he tried to heave his body up, to stand up and help his friend and make this nightmare end.

Startled, Kakashi felt an additional drain on his chakra, making black spots dance in front of his eyes as what little chakra he still had left seemed to leave him in a steady tickle.

 

Finally his arms gave away, and only hands catching him prevented him from meeting the ground in a painful way. He collapsed, Rin's frantic shouts in his ear and Minato's hands carefully catching him. His Sharingan remained locked on the figure that was so, so close, yet so far away. The sight burned itself into his mind as the figure slowly disappeared between the trees and took Kakashi's will to remain awake with him.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *cackled*
> 
> Oh my, your reactions were awesome. Sorry for that mean cliff hanger. You guys concentrated way too much on the picture. Did I ever SAY it was Rin? Minato only just arrived and only saw her back.
> 
> No Genjutsu.
> 
> No Henge.
> 
> Sorry, I couldn't resist ^^
> 
> Obito appeared. Only a short moment, but eh, he was there! ;D


	20. The Cell

When Kakashi came to, the first thing he noticed was that he seemed to be alone. Stretching his senses found no other presence and... it was very, very quiet. Too quiet for being outside, so he must be in a room. Isolated and with thick walls, since otherwise he would be able to hear more. Even through his mask he could smell old blood, metal, stone and the sharp sting of medicals. Casting his still hazy thoughts back, he tried to muddle through his memories to figure out what had happened to him this time. He remembered going on a mission. He remembered the ambush, and the haste back to the village. Remembered waking up in a hospital and … and going after Rin, saving her only just in time. Capture. A Ritual, black ink moving over his body and sapphire chakra invading his body. Pain, pain, so much pain, a conversation interrupted and a dead body slumping in his arms. Brown hair tickling his cheek in mockery of a memory long past and at the same time so fresh that Kakashi felt his heart-rate spike just thinking on it.

 

The next thing Kakashi became aware of, aside from the muted pain radiating in his body, to wide-spread to pinpoint what exactly hurt the most, was that he was being drugged. Careful not to move too much, Kakashi tried to take stock of his situation. A thin cannulae connected to his bandaged hand, piercing skin and feeding him the fluid it was connected to.

He was disarmed, clothed in only a simple shirt, a fresh mask and a pair of cotton-soft trousers. Bandages covered his arms, splints keeping the bones in place to heal. He was lying on something soft, a bed or a futon, most likely. So wherever he was, they had wanted him moderately comfortable. Not Kiri then, most likely. They had certainly not been very hospitable during his short stay.

 

Comfortable, but not able to fight. His senses felt dulled and a strange, medical induced calm made it a little hard to think, but not impossible.

 

… there were manacles on his wrists and feet and Kakashi had very bad, recent memories of being strapped to a slab of stone. He shivered, trying to keep his reaction to himself as he didn't know if he was being observed.

 

He had not expected to gain consciousness to being alone. Where was Minato? Where was Rin?

 

Had he been recaptured? He thought he remembered Minato carefully lowering him to the ground. And Rin desperate to heal him. Had he imagined them? It took effort not to tense, but once he had made doubly sure he was alone, Kakashi allowed himself to relax a little and to slowly crack his eyes open to a small slit.

 

What he saw made his stomach sink and even all the training and experience he had couldn't prevent the slight hitch in his breath as he stared up at the ceiling.

 

It was covered in a massive fuinjutsu seal.

 

Kakashi pressed his eyes close, trying to breath evenly and not panic.

 

He was getting so sick of fuinjutsu. It was almost like the inky letters existed to make Kakashi's life miserable.

 

After a short time, he opened his eyes again, this time fully to take in the entirety of the seal. Kakashi slowly turned his head to look around, seeing the four thick stone walls, every inch covered in small, black letters. A single door, heavy steel and clearly reinforced was placed in the middle of the wall to his left side. He was lying in the middle of the room and thus in the middle of the seal – his stomach flipped sickly at that mental image – on a futon and the cannulae was connected to a drip. With squinting eyes, Kakashi noticed that it was simply a pain medication, but apparently a strong one, if how it made his thoughts feel like they were wrapped in cotton was any indication.

 

He was in a cell. An interrogation cell to be precise. A Konoha interrogation cell for S-class criminals.

 

Kakashi let his head drop back on the futon with a muted moan.

 

Great. During all his time Kakashi had really only been in this cell once, and otherwise only looked in from the outside.

 

The seal that was covering the room was a chakra-suppression seal. It would explain why he could barely feel the Sanbi, but Kakashi was relatively sure that it alone wouldn't have been able to mute the new connection he had to the Bijuu to this extend. Someone had already played around with his seal, while he was unconscious, and while Kakashi hoped it was Minato, he dreaded to think what the Sanbi's reaction was going to be.

 

His cuffed hands rose and carefully he shifted his shirt aside, looking at the black lines marring his body. Usually the seal would only be visible when chakra was used on it. The seal shown was a different one. Kakashi studied the lines and felt himself grimace. A containment seal, slapped on top of whatever monstrosity Kiri had forced on him. Clearly made to suppress and hold the Sanbi, it was crude but very, very effective. Temporary though. Otherwise it would have faded like the other seal. Kakashi smoothed the cotton shirt back over his stomach, lifting his arms and looking at the cuffs around his wrists. They weren't connected to hamper his movements, but seals had been layered into them. More seals to keep him from using chakra.

 

Kakashi let out a sigh and his hands dropped back to his sides.

 

What a mess.

 

With nothing better to do, Kakashi closed his eyes and breathed deep. It was harder to find his calm, without his Ninken by his side and feeling unsettled and alone in this cell, cut off from his chakra. But not impossible, as he was fairly certain that he was – mostly – safe.

 

In.

 

And out.

 

In.

 

And out.

 

A soft splash.

 

In...

 

A ripple of water under his feet...

 

And out...

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeeey, Kakashi got rescued!! *happy dance*
> 
> What, you thought the situation with the Sanbi was dealt with?
> 
> Eh, you thought he would return to Konoha with a stabilized seal due to Jiraya/Minato?
> 
> What, you thought he would be fully healed?
> 
> Didn't I tell you I'm not here to make it better? :) Just different~♥


	21. A deal

Kakashi opened his eyes slowly. A fog curled over the water, cloaking the surroundings in a hazy, softening blur and creating wafting images that formed and fell apart. Kakashi tried not to take too close a look at them, afraid of what they might show.

 

It was a bit disorienting, and Kakashi silently wondered if it had been a good decision to enter his mindscape while doped to his gills.

 

Probably not.

 

With a sigh he slowly started to walk, a dark shape in the distance his goal. The cave was huge and parted the mist floating around easily, the closer Kakashi got. This time he did not hesitate at the entrance, but walked straight in. His eyes looked around, trying to see if there were any differences to last time.

 

When he entered the lit up cave, he stopped and stared.

 

The Sanbi was still in the middle of the cave. There were still chains linking it to the walls and wrapping around it's body in a way that must be painful.

 

The new addition were the five Torii-gates, that forced the Sanbi into immobility. One at his head, another over his body and three holding each of its tails.

 

It was breathing heavily, clearly exhausted after struggling for a long time and bleeding in some places where the chains had been pulled too tight and thus cut it due to the gates forcing the body further down.

 

Its eyes were closed, but as Kakashi drew closer, caution in every movement, one eye snapped open and glared at Kakashi, a low rumbling growl leaving its body and shaking the cave, rattling the chains.

 

Kakashi stopped and stared back, feeling helpless and a lot overwhelmed with the situation. His hand rubbed the back of his head, carding through his hair. It was almost painful to see the Sanbi like this.

 

“...”

 

He started to walk slowly again, staying in the Sanbi's vision until he was standing right in front of it.

 

“I'm sorry...” Kakashi said, but knew that words would do little to convince the Sanbi of his intentions.

 

“ **Liar.** ” the Sanbi rumbled, its mouth opening in a barely repressed snarl.

 

“I didn't plan for this...” Kakashi said and very, very carefully put a hand just below the Sanbi's eye that was watching him wearily.

 

“Honestly, I didn't plan for any of this...” Kakashi admitted tiredly. His eyes trailed over the Torii-gates, clearly another seal slapped on top of the one Kiri used to keep the Sanbi at bay. Minato's work? Or Kushina's?

 

“I...” Kakashi touched the Torii-gate closest to the Sanbi's head, studying it. “I'm not sure how people would react to me destroying the seal...” but if he wanted a chance to gain the trust of the Sanbi, he couldn't let it stay like this either.

 

“ **... you promised me freedom, human.** ” there was anger in the voice. And betrayal.

 

“...” well, annoying people was his speciality, he just didn't want to risk their lives while doing so. Besides, the seal was already crumbling, the chains not as sturdy as before, a few of them already bend out of shape.

 

With a sigh Kakashi carefully crouched down next to the Sanbi's eye, his arms resting on his knees.

 

“Promise you will hear me out to the end and not go on a rampage in the middle of Konoha?”

 

“ **You had your chance, human.** ” the Sanbi growled.

 

“We were interrupted.” Kakashi reminded it “This time, I hope we will have more time. I'm back home now, so we will have a longer time to talk.”

 

“ **...** ” the Sanbi's eye was locked on him. It shifted, winced, then grudgingly allowed a begrudging “ **fine.** ” to rumble out.

 

“Promise to listen to me to the end before you break free? And not go on a rampage in Konoha?” Kakashi insisted. This was, after all, still a Bijuu seeking it's freedom first and foremost.

 

It growled, and snapped a rather petulant sounding “ **Promise!** ” that sounded rather unconvincing to Kakashi, but... ah, well.

 

“Okay. Then I will get rid of these chains for you.” Kakashi fake-cheerfully exclaimed, feeling more like he was going to his execution as he slowly stood up, under the watchful, surprised gaze of the Sanbi.

 

It was his mind and he wasn't actually using chakra, at least not outwardly. It was the only reason why a Chidori worked, while he was under suppression seals.

 

One Chidori later and five destroyed chains clattered to the ground. Kakashi concentrated again, calling up another chirping wave of lightning and set to work.

 

After the second he needed a moment to breath, as he was still only 12 years old on body. During his break the Sanbi spoke up, sounding thoughtful more than angry now.

 

“ **You are strange. Why would you help free me, when it only means your death?** ”

 

Deciding he needed a break before getting to work on the other chains, Kakashi returned to the Sanbi's head and sat down heavily in front of it's open eye.

  
“Eh. You were uncomfortable, weren't you? I don't _**want**_ to die, but I'm actually out of options. And time.” he asked, looking where the loosened chain had revealed a now slowly healing wound. That was... better.

 

“ **... maybe.** ” the Sanbi admitted slowly “ **but why do you care?** ”

 

Kakashi rubbed his head and let out a sigh. How to explain...

 

“Maybe...” he muttered, then repeated a bit stronger and more decisive “Maybe because I knew a boy, who had a monster in him. Due to that he... had a lot of hardship, pain and misery in his short life, with little to no affection or help. It took him years, upon years but... he became friends with the monster, looked underneath the surface and found something different.” Kakashi smiled in memory of the surprisingly warm chakra of the Kyubi.

 

“And when due to circumstances the Kyubi became free, Kurama decided to stay with him, instead of leaving for his freedom.”

 

The Sanbi jolted, then stilled.

 

“ **Kurama.** ” it said. Then it shifted slightly, it's head moving what little space of freedom it had, until it was nearly touching Kakashi.

 

“ **... I think... I think I would like to hear the rest of your story now.** ”

 

Kakashi's eye crinkled as he crossed his legs, folding them and getting more comfortable.

 

“Alright. First of all... Yo! I'm Kakashi Hatake. Nice to meet you.” Kakashi said with a lazy, two-fingered salute.

 

The sanbi blinked at him. Finally it let out a soft sigh, and a little shake of his body made Kakashi think that maybe... was it laughing?

 

“ **... Isobu.** ” it muttered quietly, so that Kakashi had to lean forward a little to actually understand the giant.

 

“ **You can call me Isobu.** ”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second conversation between the Sanbi and Kakashi. Whoop, whoop! :)
> 
> I was very good today, I even tried to work ahead!! ^^


	22. Tri-pronged kunai

Minato had reacted on instinct. There were enemies around, they were fleeing but he didn't want them to turn back, when he was distracted and try and kill even more of his students. A teacher shouldn't have to bury his students, but it happened all to often in war-time.

 

But with Obito's death still so fresh, it hurt all the more that he might have just lost the rest of his students and Minato... Minato wanted them dead. Every. Single. Enemy.

 

They didn't stand a chance. There were not a lot of them to begin with, but Minato made sure that not a single one would survive it.

 

It took him seconds to eliminate the threat. There were three alive presences behind him. One of them was Kakashi's, a chakra signature he would never be able to mistake because of the dense, white and unique presence it had. Two more further behind, but they were weak, clearly not above Chunin level and didn't feel like enemies.

 

Another second, with his hand pressed to the ground to make sure there weren't more enemies in hiding.

 

Seven seconds after arriving he stood in front of his lichen-haired student that he thought more of as a son and carefully pried Rin's dead body off his arm, heart breaking at Kakashi's expression and then crumbling to dust when he saw the kunai sticking out of his chest. He couldn't believe it. He was too late. He glanced at Rin and paused for a fraction of a moment.

 

It was not Rin. An enemy kunoichi, that resembled her but up close he could see the differences clearly.

 

Heart beating wildly, he looked past Kakashi and could see Rin sprinting towards them, Okita stumbling on his feet as he tried to keep up, injured but also alive.

 

Alive. She was alive. At least one student and maybe, just maybe... they could save Kakashi together.

 

His focus quickly returned to his most problematic student, taking in all the other injuries and carefully holding his body up. Kakashi had no more strength to do so himself.

 

Careful, ever so careful as if Kakashi was made out of spun glass, he gathered the boy in his arms and tried to settle him on the ground, without jostling his injuries or driving one of the many weapons even deeper.

 

“yer... late... sensei...” Kakashi muttered and Minato felt a hot burning pain in his eyes.

 

“Uhn.” he agreed, wishing he had been faster. Just a bit faster, to prevent this whole situation.

 

Finally he managed to settle Kakashi on the ground, eyes roaming over his injuries, the torn cloth, the pain in his eyes and...

 

There was a strange chakra interwoven with Kakashi's. He knew his students chakra, and that was something... different.

 

“Don't... look... like that...” Kakashi sounded so weak, yet he was smiling. Pained, but still smiling and it was heartbreaking. When Minato had wished for Kakashi to be more open, to be happier and find bonds he could cheerish... this wasn't what he had in mind.

 

Not like this. Please, not like this.

 

He looked up and saw Rin getting closer. He was impatient, but it hadn't been that long and he didn't dare leave Kakashi's side. He didn't want to abandon his student. Not right now, not ever, but if Kakashi breathed his last breath without anyone by his side, Minato might loose his mind.

 

“not... not like I have... a choice...” Kakashi muttered weakly, and Minato frowned, wondering what that was about.

 

“What are you-” he shook his head, taking a closer look at the kunai that was threatening the life of his precious student “-nevermind. Don't talk.” he ordered instead, eyes quickly flicking up to check on Rin again. She was finally here and crashed onto her knees immediately next to Kakashi, heedless of the pain that must radiate up her legs.

 

Her hands were already glowing green as she reached for Kakashi, trembling, but steadying with determination in her tear-filled eyes. Minato looked her over quickly. She looked tired, but apart from a few bruises, and a few newer, little cuts and scrapes, she was otherwise fine.

 

That was... good. After thinking her dead for a second, this was better than good.

 

“Heh... so I did...” Kakashi muttered, and Minato worried. Was he delirious? What was he talking about.

 

And then Minato felt it. The strange, invasive chakra in Kakashi was moving, rising like the tide, bubbling over and Rin cried out in pain.

 

Kakashi screamed. Minato had never heard his student more than grunt in pain, and he knew Kakashi had a high tolerance for pain.

 

This time his student couldn't seem to help himself, and his wide, panicked eyes found Minato's

 

“ _C-can't ho-hold it._ ” Kakashi gasped out and in a fresh wave of pain shrieked “ _ **Get. Away!**_ ”

 

Minato didn't hesitate. He threw a kunai, grabbed onto Rin and Okita and used his Hiraishin, just as the chakra around Kakashi bubbled up and surrounded the boy. He held on to Rin's struggling body, watching the silver-haired Jonin writhe on the ground in pain, howling.

 

Oh gods.

 

No. No, this couldn't happen.

 

They couldn't have...

 

But the evidence was staring him in the face, there was no mistaking a Bijuu's chakra, and while this wasn't nearly as strong or malicious as whenever Kushina's control slipped for a bare second, it was enough for Minato to recognize it for what it was. His hand took out his sealing supplies.

 

He just hoped he wouldn't be too late.

 

When the chakra subsided, he was back at his students side, letting Rin go but not taking her with him, in case he needed to flash away again.

 

Kakashi was barely conscious. The chakra had litterally corroded away the weapons in his students body, and the wound in his chest was completely healed. Not the other wounds littering his students body.

 

Rin was flabbergast as she checked Kakashi over.

 

Minato was worried. He felt heavy, as he took out his sealing supplies and started to craft a seal he had once learned on Kushina's insistence. A containment seal, for when she would loose control. It was nothing more than a band-aid, something to slap on to gain time.

 

It would work for now. For how long Minato wasn't sure. Long enough to get them to Konoha, hopefully.

 

Maybe with Kushina's help they would find a more permanent solution.

 

Sending a toad ahead was the only thing he could do. He couldn't just bring an unstable Jinchūriki into the village after all.

 

ε＝ε＝ε＝ε＝ε＝(ｏ・・)ｏ

 

His toad returned with a reply. Minato winced as he read where Kakashi would be brought to. A cell for S-class criminals, chakra-dampening seals all over. He could understand, especially since the cells were located on the edge of the village, just in case an escapee got past all the security, but it was still not something he wished on his student after a clearly already traumatic time at the hands of enemies.

 

Rin had started to care for all the other wounds Kakashi had, who had finally fallen unconscious. Tears were brimming in her eyes, but aside from occassinally wiping them away, she concentrated on her task. Meanwhile she was also telling him in halting words whathad happened. How the enemy nin had surrounded her team, killed them after telling them that they only wanted her, for whatever reason.

 

In silence Minato wondered if they had wanted her especially because of his reputation, and felt his heart twist. He didn't want to be the cause for why his students were targeted, but thus was the price of becoming powerful. Enemies would seek out your precious people in order to hurt you, because they weren't strong enough to touch you themselves.

 

There was nothing Minato could do about it now. But he resolved to train his students even harder after this. They would survive this war.

 

“It's okay, Rin.” he murmured, placing a hand on her shoulder and gently squeezing.

 

“We will return to the village, and then we will figure out all the rest.”

 

She sniffled in return, but nodded her head in acquiescence.

 

Minato breathed out, ignoring the knot in his heart that told him that thing were not about to go easy.

His eyes strayed back to Kakashi and his resolve hardened.

 

He would get them through this.

 

All of them.

 

… he couldn't imagine any other outcome...

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Changed my mind. Minato POV up! :P I originally had this in mind as a later chapter, with some more, but I think it works out better this way.
> 
> Oh yeah:  
> Death to all wasps!! Call to arms!!
> 
> I've got a stalker wasp and it decided to ambush me. Having a wasp in your trousers? Not fun.


	23. A whirlwind visitor

The scraping of metal on stone brought Kakashi out of his mediation. He blinked, his eyes feeling a little gritty from being closed for a long time, and turned his head to the left to see who had entered.

 

The heavy door closed with a loud clang and in a whirlwind of red and green, Kushina was kneeling at his side. Tears were brimming in her eyes as her hand reached for Kakashi, but stopped short of making contact with his injured arm when she noticed the state he was in. Her breath hitched for a moment as her eyes roamed over his form, taking in all the injuries while concern and anger warred inside her.

 

Finally their eyes met and Kakashi couldn't help but let out a little, shaky smile. Kushina was after all someone he trusted implicitly. After being captured, and fighting for his life and that of his teammate while at the same time trying to kill himself... she was a very welcome sight. He hadn't thought it had affected him much, not after everything he had already experienced in his life, but having her here made a weight on his chest disappear.

  
“... Hey.”

 

The next thing he knew was an enraged Kushina leaning over him with a trembling fist raised in preparation of a strike. Her hair was floating around her like the halo of an evil goddess. She looked like she was very tempted to hit him but didn't know where without causing him further damage. Kakashi flinched and tried to inch away from her wrath, but when she finally made contact, her hand was gentle against his brow. Her fingers were careful as she combed back his hair as if he was a small child and making him want to scowl. It had been a very, very long time since someone had just... done that to him. It was a kindness he wasn't used to anymore.

 

“You're awake, dattebane! I'm so glad.” she said, then the look of rage morphed into one of of worry in a split second. It was a bit uncanny, how quickly her emotions could change, but Kakashi knew she had always had impeccable control over her temper despite usually resorting to anger and violence when she was agitated. Kakashi knew it was tightly lashed, as Kurama would otherwise struggle for control. Despite not looking like it, Kushina was one person he knew could compartmentalize incredible well and had superb control over her emotions.

 

“Why did you do that.” she whispered, her other hand clutching at his shoulder. It was one of the less injured places.

 

“Mah...” he sighed, looking at the ceiling and wondering what he _could_ tell her “Instinct?”

 

“Instinct? That's what made you run?? You know the consequences such an action will have!” her fingers dug into his shoulders, making him wince. Just as quickly they released him, a thumb running over the places as if to sooth away the hurt.

 

Desertion during war-time. There might be something salvageable because he didn't _exactly_ desert, but went to save a teammate without getting approval for his leave. He would have been either declared missing nin, if he had actually managed to run away for good, or he would be heavily punished if he was apprehended. Since it was the later option, things were not looking too hot. It would have been better if Kakashi had returned under his own power. Now it looked like he had run, and while he had managed to save Rin, there was no proof that it had been intentional. Rin and Minato wouldn't be able to help him much, as they were too close to the situation. Okita might, but he had been mostly unconscious and Kakashi didn't know him well enough to even guess if he would stand in for him.

He knew what he would do to himself when he had decided to go after Rin. In light of things that people in the past didn't know, it had been an easy decision even without taking into account Kakashi's own emotional connection. Rin had been the catalyst for Obito. Saving Rin had been paramount to saving Obito and hopefully getting him off the path of revenge filled madness that would pull the whole world into chaos.

 

Kakashi couldn't regret that choice, but he could admit that his plan could have worked better.

 

What he was now looking forward to, wasn't exactly going to be fun. If he had a reputation to fall back on, things would look different. He would have been too valuable in the future to simply shut away and loose the key.

The most likely change – and the one Kakashi worried about least if he was honest with himself – was that he might be demoted in rank, despite still carrying out the same missions. This would mean his pay would also be reduced for some time, something that Kakashi had never had to worry about in the future but was an entirely different thing in this timeline. Food during wartime and rationing had exorbitant prices, and the weapons that needed to be replaced could also cost a heavy sum, if one was careless with his equipment. But these were things Kakashi could live with. Easily. He knew how to hunt for himself, if he really needed to, and how to ration food so it would last him a long time. He could exist on a bare minimum, that much he knew from his time in ANBU when he had basically lived off soldier pills and ration bars.

Besides, he didn't think that Minato or Kushina would let him starve and Kakashi still had enough money from his dead clan to last him a while. In the future, he had never really needed to fall back on that.

 

No the punishments he was much more apprehensive was corporal punishment, or being detained for some time. Both were as likely to happen to him now, especially considering the Bijuu residing in his body. Kakashi feared that they would simply imprison him and keep him there. It was not like he had many connections and Minato would only be able to do so much. Maybe once he was Hokage, but there was still quite some time and... and Madara might come after Rin again.

 

Another likely chance, if he wasn't at risk of deserting or changing sides, was that they would send him to the frontline now. A do or die mentality that war enfoced, a shinobi that wasn't obeying orders might as well die a useful death. While Kakashi was... not exactly sure, but confident enough in his abilities, he also thought that him being an unstable Jinchūriki would prevent that from happening.

There were a lot of possibilities, and him being in a cell didn't seem like he was standing on very stable ground at the moment. On one hand it was logical, if they feared that the Bijuu might escape. On the other it showed that they were already weary of him, and Minato's absence spoke it's own language. He was sure that if he could, Minato would be here. It was a wonder they had allowed Kushina to visit him.

 

The last solution... was extraction. And Kakashi really, really wanted to avoid that. He knew Minato would fight for him, Kushina too, but he also knew that they wouldn't be able to do as much as they would have been able to if Minato had already become Yondaime.

 

Instead of answering Kushina's question directly, Kakashi focused on the more important information he needed to have to plan.

 

“Is Rin safe?” his voice sounded scratchy, his throat felt desert dry and Kakashi had the vague memory of screaming himself hoarse.

 

Kushina sighed, as if she had expected that question – and maybe she had, Minato probably had bemoaned Kakashi's new obsession to her at one point or another – but nodded reluctantly.

 

“She's as well as can be. Worried sick, over her idiot teammate.” the information made something relax in Kakashi, a heavy weight lifted off his chest at the confirmation that he had changed her fate. For now. Who knew what Madara would do now, that his plan had failed. Would he try again?  
  
“That... that's good...” he whispered, looking at the stone-ceiling. There was a lump in his throat, making it hard to swallow.

 

“Idiot.” Kushina muttered fondly, her hand carding through his hair again belying her irritation with him.

 

“... I heard about an ambush planned on her... I couldn't not go. I promised Obito I'd look after her.” Kakashi muttered, “I've already abandoned her once too often. Obito paid the price.” half his body crushed and kidnapped by a madman. He had lost his chance to get him back, had seen him being taken away right in front of his eyes.

 

But... could he tell her that? Was Obito even still alive, now that he had foiled Madara's plan?  
  
But if he died... nobody would know.

 

“I... I saw Obito.” he admitted, heart in his throat as he cautiously looked Kushina back in her eyes “... at the edge of the clearing. I saw him, but he was... he was dragged off....”  
  
Kushina stared at him with wide eyes, eyes that seemed to flick between his as she tried to see if he was serious, if he spoke the truth. Very carefully she said “You... were in a lot of pain, Kakashi... and almost died...” her whole body language told Kakashi all he needed to know. She didn't believe him, and he couldn't really blame her. Kakashi wanted to scream. He knew it wasn't likely that anyone would believe him, it was too far-fetched. Not after Rin had described the injuries that no normal human being would be able to survive and Kakashi couldn't exactly tell her that Madara was the reason. Not without putting himself into even hotter water than he was already neck-deep swimming in.

 

He sighed and closed his eyes, weary of his own reaction. He wanted to shake her and insist, make her _see the truth_ instead of making her believe that his guilty conscience was making things up when he was half dead and traumatized by recent capture.

 

“I know. It seemed real.” Kakashi managed to grind out, trying to soften his voice so that the frustration wouldn't spill over “I just want...ed to save him.”

 

Kushina's fingers were soothing him. When she extracted them, Kakashi deigned to open one eye again to watch her. She moved a little away, somewhere behind him and he could hear water splashing into a glass. It made his throat itch with want. When she returned to his side and helped him sit up, he eagerly drank the water from the glass she held to his mouth.

 

“Do you know what happened to you...?” she asked once he was finished, watching him with sad, knowing eyes. He hummed in acknowledgement, his right hand – the one that Rin had started to heal – tugging up his shirt to reveal the stark black ink against his untanned skin.

 

“I was awake for most of it.” he admitted with a shrug that laced pain through his body and made him let go of the shirt “It's why I knew I couldn't return to Konoha straight away. I've been studying seals, a little on my own... but even without, the chakra entering my body was not something I could have possibly missed.”

 

He looked up from the seal to see Kushina staring at him once more with tears glimmering in her eyes.

 

“Don't look at me like that.” he said softly as he could “I don't regret going after Rin. If not me, it would have been her sitting here.” or dead. Most likely dead.

 

“You don't know what it means... Kakashi...!” she said brokenly “Kakashi, they will try to get rid of you. You leaving the village like you did...” she shook her head, lips pressed firmly together and hands balled into fists.

 

“Mah, already talking about extracting the Sanbi from me, do they?” Kakashi said, letting himself sink back onto the bed. He turned his gaze back to the ceiling and drawled in a bored voice “They would be stupid to do that.”

 

He didn't need to see Kushina's face to see her bafflement at his relaxed stance. He could only hope that his – and Isobu's – plan would work out.

 

“Kakashi! This is serious!” she whispered harshly, as if she thought he wasn't aware of his situation.

 

“You have the Bijuu of another village in you, after you ran away from Konoha!” when said like that, the 12-year old mused, it did sound bad.

 

“They put it in me with an unstable seal and a cursed seal on my heart forcing me back to Konoha where the seal would have dissolved.” Kakashi said calmly, looking at Kushina out of the corner of his eyes and seeing her still in apprehension.

 

“Oh...kami...” she choked out, eyes wide with fear as she paled when the implication set in “They wanted the Sanbi to release in the village.”

 

Kakashi nodded tiredly “That's what I guessed, once I realized what happened. I ran into a kunai to keep that from happening, what more do they want?”

 

“What?” Kushina choked out, then frantically lifted his shirt to check on the injury without any hint of shame. Kakashi flinched away and tried to slap away her hands on instinct, forgetting about his injuries for a second ans hissing in discomfort. Kushina looked apologetic for a moment, but her eyes roamed over his chest free from injuries.

 

“It's fine. The Sanbi healed me.” Kakashi said, tugging on his shirt and trying to squirm away.

 

“The... the Sanbi healed you.” Kushina repeated, trying to get that information through to her.  
  
“Uhn.” Kakashi nodded, eye-smiling up at her.

  
“And that's why they would be stupid to extract the Sanbi.” he explained smugly “We get along pretty well right now. It's rare for a Jinchūriki to be able to control their Bijuu, right?” not so much control, but Kakashi had managed to convince Isobu that he was telling the truth, and the three-tails was willing to wait a little longer. It had softened, when Kakashi had destroyed all the links, even if he left the Torii-Gates so to not fry his own system when Isobu's chakra flowed through his coils unchecked. Isobu wasn't any more willing to become part of the Juubi than the other tailed beasts had been in the future. He wanted more freedom though, and Kakashi was willing to work on that. He had warned the Sanbi that there would be a resealing, if things worked out, but that they could see how to make Isobu comfortable.

 

“You... what?” Kushina choked out again, clearly not sure if she heard right or not.

 

“The Sanbi and me... we are friends. He's pretty cool about it so far. Not sure about the next Jinchūriki they choose though, he might not be as accommodating then.”

 

He blinked lazily up at the readheaded woman.

 

“Isobu says 'Hi' to Kurama. He also wanted the furr-ball to know that, and I'm quoting this 'you really shouldn't give your host so much trouble and work on your anger-management issues'”

 

The tiny thread of rage – not his own, not Kushina's and definitely not Isobu's – made Kakashi hum happily. If all went well, they could work on Kushina's and Kurama's relationship.

 

First he would have to see if the Hokage would be willing to fight for Kakashi's continued survival tough.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh god. The chapters are getting longer... honestly, if they keep inching their way to 3k words I might not be able to do the daily updates anymore *sob* It was a struggle to get this one ready on time and I've worked on it for the past few days while writing the other chapters!  
> To be honest, now it's gonig to start getting complicated ;P We will see how it goes. What do you think Kakashi's punishment should be? *cackle*
> 
> On another note: My mom is sick, sooo... if I don't actually manage to post an update, it's probably related to that. She's feeling a bit better than yesterday, but not entirely well yet.


	24. Of Rescue and Madness

Obito woke to unimaginable pain. That was the first and only thing he noticed, his whole right side was just... a burning, itching, stabbing agony.

 

When he finally regained the ability to think, the thought that came to the forefront of his mind was “ _Damn. Dying really takes some time._ ” before he realized that he really shouldn't be alive anymore. He had felt himself fade. It had been hard to speak- _Kakashibringinghisweightagainstthebouldercollapsingonthefloor_ \- and even harder to drag up a smile when he could hardly figure out what was still there and what was crushed. But seeing Kakashi break down, seeing him... cry. It didn't fit. That's not who Kakashi was and Obito dragged up a smile for him and Rin - _tearsinhereyeswhensheshouldalwayslaughohkamihedidnotwanttodie_ \- and when Rin took his one remaining eye... he couldn't see them anymore. It was dark. It was scary. The smile on his face felt fake, but he kept it through sheer stubbornness alone, because the last his teammates saw of him should not be marred more than it already was. He didn't want the last thing they remembered of him to be _paindesolationangerhoplessnessgriefhorrorfeartears_. He could hear the stones shifting, which made his throat lock up in encompassing terror as the weight pressed down more and his body became numb from agony. He couldn't see the stones shift and fall, but he could hear them. The grinding of bigger slabs against each other and the tickling sounds of smaller pebbles finding their place in between. It was almost loud enough to drown out Rin's cries. Her devastated sobs were the lullaby that dragged him closer to deaths arms.

 

He didn't want to die.

 

He hadn't even confessed to Rin.

 

He was just starting to get through to Kakashi.

 

He still had to make sensei proud.

 

He had promised Kushina they would all return...

 

There was still so much to do in his life and Obito wanted to be there, not here, not being surrounded by stones pressing close to him, squeezing, crushing, suffocating.

 

So... waking up was a surprise.

 

“W-where... is this...?”

 

Was he... dead? Did one have to feel pain in death? Who was that old man next to his bed?

 

Obito gazed up at the man, studying his white, coarse hair and the wrinkles furrowing the paper-like skin. Most prominent in the pale face framed by white hair though: The bright red of the Sharingan.

 

“Where... exactly... are we?” it was hard to form words, and Obito tried to take a look around, to figure out where he was and what had happened. Had he been saved? Where was his team? Minato? Kakashi? Rin...?

 

Even just moving his head a little exhausted him, almost too much.

 

He looked back at the silent form of his... rescuer? And smiled hesitatingly, trying to get a grip on the situation

 

“Heh...” he chuckled nervously “Don't tell me you're death? The being who escorts people to heaven or hell...”

 

It was then that he saw the glint of the weapon the man was holding. Waking up to the face of an old man with a scythe while in pain and at their mercy?  
  
Fuck that. No. No! This was not death! This was **hell**. Really, who could fault him for freaking out?!  
  
Really, he wanted to see anyone (except Kakashi, because that guy's resting boredom-face was probably unable to change due to emotional stuntedness) in his situation and would dare them not to react with a few... manly, very manly screams. Once it was established that the old geezer was in fact a human being – or as human as one could still be while being connected to a _really_ creepy statue – he had calmed down a bit. But he was suspicious, naturally so, being at war. He was an Uchiha and he knew the elderly people of his village. This one he had never seen before, and him having the Sharingan could only mean the man was either a thief or a missing nin.

 

And while the man told him he had gotten him out and treated him – and Obito was thankful for that, really he was – he couldn't help but be slightly weary of the man, distrust lingering in his chest even as he smiled up at him. How come he lived here, all alone and on his own. How did he have the Sharingan?

 

“I intend to have you repay your debt...” the old man said and his stare made goosebumps run up and down the young boys body-half “It's your motto to help the elderly, right?

 

Obito was quiet for a second, then hesitatingly nodded.

 

“Yeah. But... well, what do you want me to do?” he asked aloud while his thoughts whirred and he silently questioned how the old man could possible know of his habits of helping elderly people in his home village. They were too far away from Konoha and he doubted anyone would gossip about his habits out here, in the wild or wherever they war. How had he gotten here? The old man didn't look like he travelled outside very often. He didn't mind helping him per se, but...

 

Why did he need _**his**_ _help_? Well, as old as he was...

 

“With bathroom... stuff?” Obito asked in an unsure voice, slowly fighting his body into a sitting position so as to not feel completely helpless, even if he actually was. At least it made him feel better about the situation, once the weird old man wasn't towering over him quite that much anymore.

 

Then he shook his head.

 

“Sorry, I can't stay here forever.” he told the stranger with another shake of his head “Now that I know I'm alive... I need to go home, to Konoha!” Brown, red, blond and silver. Home.

 

“There is a war going on.” he told the old man, because the guy probably didn't know about that, living in a cave like he was.

 

“My Sharingan has finally activated... so I can protect my comrades better now!”

 

“Protect your comrades better, eh...” The man let out a sigh, then mercilessly continued “With that body of yours? Your life as a shinobi is over.”

 

It was like a punch Obito couldn't avoid. His eye dropped down, looking at the stitched together body half, the mass of... something on his right side. Desperation choked him. It was true after all, but, but...!  
  
“No. _No, no_ , I finally... I _**finally**_ got this eye!”

 

His head was spinning, and the man was still talking. Talking about nonsense like pain, suffering, futility. Things that Obito had crossed out of his dictionary, because he had gotten told that too often in his short life. Becoming Hokage? People laughed when he told them, but he would do it! He would.

 

Despite himself he listened. If only because the man had rescued him, he listened in silence, his gut churning. The old man unsettled him, but it was not like he could just up and leave. Not with his body in the condition it was in.

But he didn't believe. He didn't! Maybe some things rang true, but others just didn't make sense to Obito. He refused to believe that this reality wasn't worth fighting for, that the sacrifices they made were in vain. No. There would be other ways to archive peace.

 

Right now he needed to get back home, no matter what and everything else was simply not relevant.

 

But the man's words echoed, latched onto his thoughts, his memories. He shook it off, as best as he could. But they lingered.

 

For now Obito was too weak to move. But he would get better, and then he would return to the light, to lavender and laughter, to a red whirlwind and good food, to silver confidence and fragility, to sunshine and warmth.

 

Something was off. Something was off, and the Uchiha gost turned into Uchiha Madara, a legend long dead.

 

An Uchiha who saw reality as hell.

 

And Obito knew this was bad. And he needed to return to Konoha.

 

He just didn't have the strength left.

 

“There are a lot of things I'd like you to do for me... for the rest of our lives.” and didn't that sound ominous? Obito had heard enough, and even with his uncooperative body he tried his best to leave. He wouldn't listen to his bullshit anymore.  
  
“I went to great pains to save you.” Madara continued, watching his struggle of futility “Don't rush to your death...”

 

Madara was mad. Stark, raving, barking, mad.

 

A world of only peace and love? What interest did Obito have in that? What would his accomplishments mean, if everything got handed to him? How would something like that possibly work?!

 

He did try to drag his body to... wherever the exit was. He wasn't sure but anywhere was better than staying close to that craziness. All the while listening to Madara, who said that if Obito left, then he would take his one remaining eye. Creepy.

 

“I don't have a right eye yet.” Madara droned on, unconcerned “And only with two together can the sharingan's true power be unleashed.”

 

If Madara thought that would make Obito reconsider to stay... well, no. No, quite the opposite. It only meant that if he returned to Kakashi's side, they would be so much stronger, so much better at teamwork. They could make it work!

 

Rin's sobbing carried him to sleep and made him wake up with a burning determination to get back to his home.

 

For Kakashi.

 

For Minato.

 

For Kushina.

 

And especially for Rin...

 

There were more people he missed, but he was an orphan and these four had become his closest friends or even family. Or hopefully more.

In his dreams he was with them and they greeted him with open arms. In his waking hours he spend his time training, eating, testing his mobility, training some more until he collapsed in exhaustion.

 

He didn't trust the old man, who sat in the chair, watching him with detached interest. Whenever Obito looked at him, he couldn't imagine what would be worth it to cling to life this desperately, to spend years upon years in isolation, connected only to the creepy statue behind, looking like death incarnate. But then again, he himself also clung to life with a desperation he hadn't known he owned.

 

There were other creatures too, as he later noticed. When Madara went to sleep, they were there and watching over him. Strange white masses, not really human (they called it 'artifical human', Obito was sure they were some kind of strange plant-monsters he had been scared of when he had been really small) but in parts shaped like one. He didn't trust them either, but they kept appearing in the cave. And Obito was... lonely. Talking to them and their sometimes ridiculous questions was the only interaction he had, and he couldn't help himself but talk to them. Whatever Madara had done to him... the young Uchiha didn't want to dwell too long on it. He didn't feel entirely... human anymore. He didn't need to eat, drink or even use the bathroom, and while the pain slowly receded, as whatever crazy stuff that was, it itched and moved and _grew_.

 

His every waking moment was spend training. The... mass of cells – Obito wasn't sure exactly how they worked – on the right side of his body slowly grew, and Obito was really relieved that it was not growing into... tentacles or something weird like that, but instead seemed to reform an arm and leg and whatever else went missing.

 

They were weak though, and only through bullheaded training did he slowly, ever so slowly regain some strength in the limbs. It was hard. The following days (weeks... _years?_ It was hard to tell the time in the cave, without sunlight to tell of the passing of time.) passed quickly, in a haze of training and abating pain. He was getting used to the weird new cells forming his new arm and leg but it was still hard to get up and do the simplest things. At first, Obito could barely stand up. Bound to a bed like an invalid, with only that creepy old guy and strange white masses as company. He felt alone, and yet...

 

His dreams gave him the strength to pull through. And the white masses had given him their names. Shiro Zetsu and Kuro Zetsu (though Obito couldn't really see anything black about the second one, except maybe his humor). He might be going a little soft on them, but they were... kind, in a weird way. They helped him, kept him from toppling over and harming himself, kept talking to him about random things – sometimes even of the outside world – and were generally just around all the time, whenever they were not going outside for whatever scouting reason. They cheered him on, whenever he managed to accomplish something he hadn't before and listened when Obito felt frustrated with his body and the world at large .

 

The arm and leg gained some strength, until Obito was able to stand and take some shaky steps on his own, without any support from the nearby wall. With time and effort the limbs didn't feel quite so strange anymore. While there was an instinctive knowledge that they were not his own, they slowly became his in another way. Like a crutch one learned to master over time, until using it was as easy as breathing.

 

It became easier to breath, as he regained his strength. It wouldn't be much longer until he could escape and finally return home, and that thought made him so incredible happy. Not much longer now...

 

And then came the day when Zetsu returned from his trip outside, and his world threatened to crumble once again.

 

There were no thoughts of anything but escaping right now, when he got told that Rin and Kakashi were in trouble. He would have done anything to get to them.

 

Punching the wall with his newly reformed arm was probably stupid, and it was shocking how easily the new limb simply broke off like it was the arm of a stuffed toy instead of one of Obito's body-parts.

 

“Why don't you wear my body...?” the Shiro part of Zetsu asked, and the white mass wrapped around him, like a full-body hug. It was a little disconcerting, but it was Obito's only way out and if Zetsu would help him, he wouldn't mention it.

 

“Thank you, guys...!” he said, heartfelt, and then they shattered the stone and ran. He was finally free of that cave, and he wouldn't ever return, no matter what Madara said. He was free, he would get better and it was time to save Kakashi and Rin... and return home.

 

_Please. Please, Kakashi. You promised me! Protect Rin!!_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An Obito POV. I know, I know. That was basically a recount of the chapter, but I promise there will be a follow up soon!!
> 
> On another Note, I added the songs I listened to to the chapters Mindscape and Ritual, if anyone is interested.
> 
> I'm also adding my playlist that I use while writing at the end of the story in the notes :)


	25. A crumbling Team

Once Kakashi had been taken by a team of ANBU, Minato was left with Rin and Okita. The boy looked dead on his feet, and Rin wasn't far behind. It had been hard not to follow Kakashi, but another squad of ANBU had barred his way, giving him a scroll with orders from the Hokage and grudgingly, Minato had bowed to their leader's wishes. After bringing Rin and Okita to the hospital to be checked over, and making certain they were well looked after, he went straight for the Hokage tower to give his own report.

 

The Sandaime looked tired when Minato was called into his office. His had was lying on the desk, and Sarutobi was puffing away on his pipe in clear agitation.

 

“You wished to see me?” Minato asked once he was standing in front of the desk, feeling unsettled as he saw his leader lean back into his chair and give a heavy sigh.

 

“At ease, Minato...” the Hokage huffed out with a smokey breath “...we have much to talk about.”

 

“Indeed.” Minato replied, his stance relaxing a little but now that he was in front of the Hokage, he felt the anger that he had shoved aside boil up again.

 

“I for one would like to know why Kakashi was send out on a mission, before he had fully recuperated and against my express desire for him to be kept in the village until my return.” Minato asked, his voice mildly polite but edged with icy poison.

 

“I didn't.” the Hokage replied, lacing his fingers together and watching Minato with a tired sort of resignation on his wrinkled face.

 

“Pardon?”

 

“Hatake Kakashi left the village, approximately two days ago, without permission.” the Hokage elaborated as Minato tried to grapple with the new information “His absence was noted when a nurse came to check on him the following day, with him missing from the hospital.”

 

“... what?” Minato tried to wrap his mind around that. Of course, it wasn't exactly new that shinobi escaped from the hospital on a regular basis, despite not being fully healed.

 

“Thinking he had gone back to his apartment, I send for him. When he wasn't found, I ordered the Inuzuka to locate him for me. A day later it was confirmed that Kakashi has left the village, without permission.”

 

Minato shook his head. No. Kakashi wouldn't do that. Kakashi _lived_ by the rules. He would know the consequences better than anyone due to this. There was simply no way Kakashi would abandon-

 

… a teammate. Rin. Minato wanted to grip his hair and start pulling.

 

“Why was Rin send out of the village?” he asked, his tone tight with worry and apprehension as his mind raced through scenario after scenario of what had made Kakashi so desperate to throw his entire lifestyle out of the window and pursue Rin.

 

“A supply gathering mission. She was supposed to gather some medical herbs. The location wasn't too far away so it was supposed to be a low risk mission. She had a Chunin medical nin at her side to help her and another Chunin and Jonin as protection.”

 

Nothing that should have gone so completely wrong that Kakashi had to follow her and ended with him almost dying and becoming a Jinchūriki then.

 

“I see.” Minato croaked out, despite really not seeing the picture at all. Kakashi was going in a direction Minato couldn't follow, he didn't know how his student would react anymore and... and that was disconcerting. He had always known Kakashi, had always been able to predict his movements and could most of the time guess what or how he was thinking.

 

Since Obito's death, Minato could hardly recognize him anymore. He walked different, he fought different, he acted different and clearly had a shift in priorities that Minato couldn't ascertain.

If it wasn't for his summons and knowledge of things only Kakashi would know, Minato might have suspected an imposter.

 

“I... okay.” Minato grappled for some stability, one hand going to his forehead and pinching the skin near his nose as if to ward off a headache “Okay. Alright.” If not for his very deliberate slow and deep breaths, Minato was sure he would have freaked out a lot more.

 

“This... what does that mean. I mean, what will happen now? To... to Kakashi?” he chanced a glance at the Hokage and felt his heart sink at the pained expression.

 

With a heavy sigh the Hokage stood up and faced Minato directly, putting his pipe away and gabbing the hat with the fire symbol. Very slowly and carefully he put the hat on while his eyes remained fixed on the Yellow Flash, and Minato knew what it meant. Sarutobi was now acting as the Hokage, not his friend, and it send a thrill of fear through him.

 

“While we are still gathering information on this incident, Hatake Kakashi will remain suspended from active duty and isolated in a secure cell.” the Hokage said, straightening up and placing his hands behind himself, as if unconcerned if Minato decided to attack or not.

 

“His punishment will be decided at a later point. The council is already discussing the situation

 

“... Minato. Hatake Kakashi will be pulled out of your team until further notice.” The Hokage stated to the frozen Jonin in front of him “You are not to seek him out. You are to keep your distance and keep your students... your student from making contact.” Minato felt like he couldn't breathe. This... no, how could they do this?

 

“Lord Hokage...” Minato was close to begging “please, reconsider! Kakashi-”

 

“Is no longer of your concern.” the Hokage interrupted, his expression stern and unyielding. It softened a moment later at Minato's devastated state.

 

“I will... try to keep you informed. Do not make this harder than it needs to be.”

 

Minato closed his eyes. Every muscle trembling with the need to take action. Two ANBU appeared silently at Sarutobi's side as a little of the tightly leashed killing intent escaped Minato's usually impeccable hold.

 

He bowed stiffly, not trusting himself to look at the man he had always trusted and whose opinion he valued beyond most others.

 

In this though... he wasn't sure he would be able to obey.

 

“As my Lord Hokage wishes.” he replied, his voice deceitfully even for the turmoil that raged war inside him. He left without bothering to wait for a dismissal, back ramrod straight as he kept a hold on his anger. Just outside the Hokage's office, Minato decided he had enough.

 

In a flash he was gone, and reappeared in his apartment.

 

He was still for a moment. Inhaling, then exhaling loudly as he tried to reign in his emotions.

 

˭̡̞(◞₎๑^ᆺ^)◞₎₎=͟͟͞͞˳˚॰°ₒ৹๐°৹๐॰

 

When Kushina came home, she stopped as she took in the destruction that was once their living room. Minato was passed out on the half demolished couch, a bottle of their strongest alcohol clutched tight in his arms. She sighed, carefully moving through the battlefield and snatching up the blanket she usually stowed away close to the sofa, in case she wanted to take a nap or wanted to curl up with a book and a hot cup of tea. She unfolded it, carefully shaking off some dust and debris from the destroyed shelf that had crashed onto it and spread it over her idiot husband who would have a mess to clean up and replace very item he had destroyed to her satisfaction.

 

For now she would let him sleep. Trouble lay ahead and he would need his strength.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I... didn't think that Obito's POV would be so popular. Wow. Guys you are amazing xD
> 
> ... it makes me feel a bit bad about what I am doing to you guys, leaving you guessing like that. Really. My evil little heart twists in pleasure, it's almost painful.
> 
> No. Kidding. Next pov will be some more on Kakashi's situation but I might be convinced to do another Obito POV soon, just to generate more hatred. :)


	26. The Meeting

It was probably days later, when Kushina came back. The only contact he had to the outside world had been medic-nins, who had looked him over and then hastily left the cell as if he was contagious, and the ANBU guarding his cell. Due to the meals he suspected it was probably 3 days since he had woken up. Nine meals. It was bearable. Not only could Kakashi think on his situation, he also slowly recovered and had the time to talk some more with Isobu, who was still a little reluctant to believe him, but was eager for whatever stories Kakashi was willing to share. Isobu had plainly stated that he would see at one point or another if Kakashi was lying or not, and would be able to make Kakashi's life a living hell if he did deceive him.

 

But as Kakashi knew things that couldn't be explained away easily – about Kurama, the Sage of Six Paths, the Juubi and Kaguya – Isobu was willing enough to accept it as truth until proven otherwise. That was a relief, and Isobu had since then stopped struggling too much against the remaining seal. He grumbled about the uncomfortable position the gates forced him in, and wiggled around as much as he could until Kakashi had capitulated and asked what was wrong, the constant movement of chakra in him preventing him from planning things through.

 

Once Isobu had admitted that there was an itch he couldn't get to, Kakashi had the surreal experience of scratching the Sanbi's back until he melted into a puddle of chakra. Rumbling almost happily.

 

Sometimes Kakashi questioned how this had become his life. Or if he was in a very, very odd dreamworld. He had already made sure he was not in a Genjutsu, so he was left with accepting this as reality.

 

It was weird, having another presence in the back of his mind, and Kakashi was almost hyper-aware of it. He was used to his privacy, used to being alone and able to shut the world away when he needed the quiet. Having constant company was pretty much Kakashi's worst nightmare.

 

And yet... for a Bijuu, Isobu was... okay. It was better than being stuck with the ball of hatred in a certain red-head.

 

Anyways, it was three days later when Kushina came back, and after having only a Bijuu to talk to, Kakashi was relieved to finally have someone who could tell him what was going on.

 

“You are requested to appear before the Hokage...” Kushina said, as she walked over to him. Kakashi could see the four ANBU hovering outside the room, and repressed a sigh. Carefully he distangled himself from the blanket and stood up, reaching out to take the clothes Kushina was holding out to him. While Kushina turned around to give him some privacy, the ANBU watched his every movement as Kakashi quickly donned his attire. Kushina must have gotten one of his spare ones from his apartment. Of course he didn't get any weapons, but he felt more comfortable in the familiar garb than he had been in the soft, loose hospital clothes he had been put in during his recovery. His eyes fell to the manacles around his wrists and feet, but when Kushina noticed his look once she looked back at him to see if he was ready, she shook her head.

 

“Those need to stay on.” she said regretfully.

 

“At least until after your account of what happened.”

 

Kakashi nodded, releasing a breath. So this was not yet his trial, but rather to plead his case before a decision was made.

 

Surrounded by ANBU as they left the cell, Kakashi and Kushina got ushered a long several twisting tunnels. Kakashi thought he could see daylight at the end of a few junctions, but he couldn't be too sure. They were underground after all, it could just as easily have been a light source tricking him into thinking there was an exit, to confuse escaping prisoners.

 

Finally they arrived at their destination, a heavy set of wooden doors reinforced with metal. The ANBU shoved it open easily enough and Kushina pulled Kakashi with her, past their guards and into the room.

 

Kushina's hand was a comfortable weight on Kakashi's shoulder, as they stood united in front of the Council, Hokage and his Advisors. Despite being in the past, Kakashi thought the Sandaime looked more tired and old than in his last years of life. The war was clearly taking its toll on the man, and it was no wonder that he had finally given the position to Minato.

 

Right now though, he looked regretful, and that more than anything else made all the alarm bells ring in Kakashi's head. The last time the Hokage had looked at him with pity, he had denied Kakashi the opportunity to resign from ANBU, which then lead long years of drowning in blood and darkness that had almost broken Kakashi beyond repair. It wasn't a surprise that Kakashi felt alarmed and apprehensive to see that look aimed at him once more.

 

“Kakashi Hatake.” a Jonin addressed him, standing up “You are here to discuss your brief defection during wartime, and the circumstances of your apprehension. Please proceed to explain to us your thoughts and actions since your last mission.” the man set down again, readying a brush to take notes. Kushina squeezed his shoulder and Kakashi took a deep breath and a step forward, head rising and spine straight. In the name of law he was an adult. He would likely be tried like one, especially since Kakashi had always been mature for his age. He knew when he had allowances for his behaviour, and when he was better off to shape up and take things serious. This fell into the latter category, if he wanted to come out of this alive.

 

“During my last mission as courier, the information we had collected from the frontline was deemed important enough to return immediately with haste to the village. On our way back, my team and I got ambushed by Kiri Nin, who had no reason to be so close to the Iwa border and in our country. My teammates ordered me to make way to Konoha immediately, while they stayed behind to distract the enemy.” those Kiri Nin had probably been there just to make sure that neither Kakashi nor Minato interfered. To keep an eye on the situation on the front line. Kakashi even suspected that the only reason they had attacked at all, was because of his presence. To slow him down.

 

He had long thought on how he had 'overheard' the situation. It was crucial that nobody suspected him of falsifying the information.

 

“Since I was going on ahead alone, I summoned my Ninken to scout the area to warn me of any danger nearby. They would have noticed enemies approaching much quicker than myself. When I took a short break to tend to my injuries, one of them came to me with the information that Kiri nin were trying to apprehend Rin Nohara, a student of the Yellow Flash for a plan to deal great damage to our village.” Kakashi kept his voice as distant and emotionless as possible. As if he was simply recounting something from a book, instead of talking about the planned capture of his own teammate.

 

“I decided to get back to the village as quickly as possible, to try and warn Minato-sensei and our esteemed Hokage of the danger. I failed, as I lost consciousness upon arrival.” that left a bitter taste in his mouth, even now. Due to that, he had almost let history repeat itself. But if he hadn't, then it could have been possible that Rin would have already left anyways. Kakashi was too emotionally invested. Minato-sensei would have made sure that Kakashi wouldn't be involved in the rescue-team. No matter how he had approached the situation, once he was send out of the village everything had become so time sensitive that it was a wonder he had been able to save Rin at all.

Kakashi would never be sure which would have led to a better ending, he was simply glad that they had both somehow managed to survive.

 

Now he only needed to convince the Council and Hokage.

 

“Then why, upon waking in the hospital, did you not take this information directly to your superiors?” another man asked, his flinty eyes looking down at Kakashi in disdain. Definitely not someone on his side then. Kakashi gave the man a quick glance over, he would remember him just in case. It was always good to know who your allies were, but even more important who your enemies could be.

 

Kakashi allowed his stance to relax a little bit, making sure that his expression was a little more open and let a little embarrassment bleed into what little could be seen of his face. Minato would have probably seen how fake it all was. Kushina was likely to be able to tell something was off too. The rest of the room would only see what he wanted them to see. A child, a little uncomfortable but closed off, just how he remembered he had been at that age. Distant. Cold. Efficient. Ruthless. Trash.

 

“Ah...” Kakashi cleared his throat “When I woke up, I didn't think that quite that much time had passed. I...” he cast a quick look to Kushina “I went to the Nohara residence to see if Rin was okay. When I noticed her gone... I... p-panicked.” dear god he would never live this down. Ever. Especially not if this got out to any of his peers. Like Genma. Genma was never allowed to know Kakashi had admitted to that.

It wasn't that it wasn't true, but that was the only solution he could come up with why he hadn't trusted his superiors. He knew, that if he didn't have the memories from before, he would have gone at least to Minato to ask for help. Gathering a team and seeking permission would have taken too much time, never mind taking the time to convince them and the uncertainty of people believing him or not. He hadn't even considered it as an option, not with the knowledge he had.

 

“I left a message for my sensei with Chunin Namiashi Raido, packed my things and ran towards where my ninken overheard that an ambush was planned.” Kakashi felt bad for lying, but an advance ambush like this likely meant “we might have a spy who is giving inside information to the enemy. Otherwise I don't know how they could have known Rin might be send out to that mission.” it probably was true. How else were Kiri to know where Rin's mission was, or even the Iwa nin, who had ambushed them before which led to Obito's supposed death? The council muttered among themselves and a few Jonin exchanged uneasy glances. Having a security leak during war time was no easy matter. It could lead to catastrophic events, and if the person was a sleeper agent, there was even a possibility of a huge blow being dealt from within the village. If successful, it could heavily impact their chances to win the war. If for example the spy managed to get rid of their food storages, or tampered with the missions or even weapons, it could be disastrous.

 

Only Kakashi was fairly certain it wasn't one of their own, but rather Zetsu who had given that information to the enemy. He couldn't say that though. But maybe tighter security measures would also make it harder for Madara and Zetsu to gain information they wanted in the future.

 

“I thought if only I was quick enough, I could catch her before she reached the area where the Kiri Nin were laying in wait. I summoned my Ninken and tracked her easily enough. As it was, I was almost too late. When I arrived at the place, the battle was already mostly over. A Jonin and Chunin of our village died defending Rin and Okita, who were the last ones standing. Okita was injured though, and in no state to defend himself or even manage to escape. I used an exploding tag to cover our retreat. Rin immediately started to treat her injured teammate and I engaged the enemy to keep them away, trying to thin out the lines for us to break through and return home.” Kakashi explained, the Hokage raised an eyebrow and shared a look with some of the council.

 

“Do you mean to say, that the bodies we found were all slain by yourself?” the old man finally asked. Kakashi froze, unsure as to how to answer.

 

“I... I don't know.” he stated honestly. It wasn't like he had the time to see if the Jonin had managed to kill some of the Kiri Nin himself “I guess a few got caught or injured in the explosion when I arrived. Later on I managed to lure people in some traps I managed to set up. Explosion and raiton traps mostly. I was trying to converse chakra, as I wasn't entirely recovered. I was running around a lot, trying to get a few people alone or in smaller groups.”

 

“Hm.” the Hokage nodded slowly, is gaze assessing. “Continue.”

  
“Once I knew I was running low on chakra, I also knew that chance of escape for all of us was unlikely. Since their goal was to capture Rin, I decided to use a henge and lead the enemy away from her position, after making sure they were safe. I used one of Minato-sensei's daggers as a marker for their position, then proceeded to run and try to break through enemy lines to return to Konoha, so they would think their plan had failed.” Kakashi recounted in an emotionless monotone “I failed, as the enemy repeatedly cut me off and herded me further away. I must have bought enough time, because they decided to rather capture me, than continue a search for Rin who I had hoped would have been found by Minato-sensei by then, or returned home.”

 

The Hokage let out a sigh. Another Jonin choose to speak up.

 

“Why would you leave the Hiraishin Marker with your teammates instead of taking it with you?”

 

Ah. Right. He would better not tell them that he had knocked Rin out.

 

“My teammates were in no condition to defend themselves, or get away to safety. They were well-hidden in a small cave, and I thought I would be able to slip past the enemies.” Kakashi really tried not to lie, just in case Rin would mention his actions later on if she was even going to be questioned. It was likely, and it wouldn't look too good on him if his story contradicted hers. It was why he refrained from lying outright, preferring to just omit a few facts. It wasn't a lie. They had after all been both unconscious, Kakashi just didn't tell how or why.”

 

“As a Jonin myself I saw it as my duty to protect my subordinates to the best of my ability. While being low on Chakra, I'm still better at Taijutsu than Rin, and Okita was recovering from injury. If captured, I also had the highest chance to free myself. It seemed logical that I would be the one to take the risk.”

 

Kushina's hand squeezed his shoulder in encouragement.

 

The Sandaime looked thoughtful.

 

Danzo looked contemplative.

 

For all of his years, Kakashi couldn't predict what would happen now.

 

“A noble sacrifice.” Danzo said “but how did you end up with the Sanbi being sealed into you?” there was a hunger, barely concealed in Danzo's eye. Kakashi looked at the Hokage, trying not to be too pointedly in his attempt to silently question if Sarutobi wanted an answer to that question. The Sandaime nodded, and Kakashi felt a tight sensation tinged with vindictive pleasure at showing Danzo whom he answered to.

 

“When I was captured, the enemy knocked me out. They were in a hurry, as I had stalled for as much time as possible and they didn't want to encounter more trouble if reinforcements reached me, before they managed to accomplish their goal.” Kakashi tried not to think of the twisting black ink and the feeling of foreign chakra clinging to him, of the pain or fear as he recounted the ritual with only a faint tremor in his voice that quickly got buried. He couldn't risk emotional display here. He could shake apart later, but not here, not when he needed to convince these people that he was stable and not at risk of loosing it and releasing a Bijuu in the middle of the village. Kushina's fingers digging into his shoulders were almost a painful relief, as if she knew he needed an anchor to not drown in the recent memory.

 

“I studied funinjutsu in my free time. I recognized some of the letters and combined with the conversation they didn't think I would overhear, I managed to put together what their plan was.” Nobody questioned him on that, and for once Kakashi was glad to be known as a genius. Leaps in logic were naturally attributed to him, and nobody would take a closer look.

 

“As I couldn't free myself, once I came to again I realized that there was more wrong than only being made into a human sacrifice. I felt a pull towards Konoha, so strong that I knew it must be forced by something else, if only because the last thing I wanted to do was to return to my village with an unstable seal that barely contained the Bijuu trying to break free.”

 

“Yet here you are.” the flinty-eyed Jonin muttered “You are risking innocent lives just by existing. Hokage, we should extract the Bijuu at once and seal it in a container that is stable-” Sarutobi's raised hand interrupted the shinobi.

 

“Young Kakashi wasn't finished yet.” he said mildly, but his gaze held a warning as he cut a glance towards the man. When he looked back at Kakashi, he was once more calm and nodded to the young shinobi.

 

“Continue. What happened then?”

 

“I meditated.” Kakashi said and was almost amused to note a few people blink in surprise. After all, it was not every time someone admitted that after capture and torture they simply went and meditated as if they were in a zen garden at home.

 

“I knew they wouldn't kill me, as I was basically a weapon they wanted to use against Konoha. I could also feel the Bijuu, and attempted to contact it.” the uproar that admittance brought was silenced by the Hokage once more, who frowned as he looked back at Kakashi.

 

“Why would you wish to converse with the Sanbi?” he asked, sounding confused and genuinely baffled.

 

“I had a cursed seal on my heart.” Kakashi told them bluntly “I could feel it, and the only way I knew to remove it in time would have been for someone to destroy my heart. Since I didn't want any harm to come to the village, I thought of several plans, but all of them would have required the willing or unwilling cooperation of the Bijuu inside of me.”

 

He took a breath, and put a hand to his neck, rubbing the tightness he found there in discomfort.

 

“If the Bijuu had been uncontrollable, I would have offered it a deal to rip open the seal then and there, freeing it, if it would but destroy the enemy.” a few looked shocked to hear Kakashi admit to planning suicide and releasing a Bijuu to archive a hopeless victory.

 

“I'm versed enough in fuinjutsu to know how to destroy a seal, even if my method might be crude.” it was true. Taking a Chidori to the chains was hardly what Kakashi would call finesse, but then again he had been a bit short on time.

 

“In the case I found the Bijuu to be cooperative, I would have tried to destroy my heart, getting rid of the compulsion and trusting the Bijuu to have enough survival instinct to heal me, so it wouldn't die with me.”

 

Again people seemed perplexed at his choice. Kakashi wondered what they would have done in his position.

 

“Trust a Bijuu?!” another man snapped, this one fair skinned and probably a noble “What madness! You can't think that those beasts are trustworthy?!”

 

Kakashi could feel Isobu stir in the back of his mind, a silent rumble that echoed only in his thoughts.

 

“I've come to an agreement with Isobu. We have taken a liking to each other, and he is quite willing to stay with me.” Kakashi explained mildly, his eyes only on the Hokage.

 

“He is willing to do a resealing with me as the Jinchūriki, if the seal is made by Uzumaki Kushina.”

 

Sarutobi's mouth dropped open a little, staring at Kakashi in disbelief. In all fairness, it was unheard of to find a Jinchūriki that just... got along with a Bijuu to the point it was willing to be resealed _**after mere days**_.

 

Kakashi barely repressed his instinctive eye-smile at the disbelieving looks his admittance garnered. He couldn't fault them. A second passed in stunned silence, then chaos erupted once more. A little part of Kakashi revelled in it, soaking up the sir he had caused and was echoed by Isobu's amusment coming from deep within him.

 

When he was brought back to the cell, he was hopeful that they wouldn't simply extract the Bijuu from him. Kushina hugged him – to the consternation of the ANBU guarding them – and whispered.

 

“You did well. We will get you out of here, dattebane.”

 

It sounded like a promise, and coming from an Uzumaki, Kakashi let himself cling to that little hope as well.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I'm late D: I got distracted!! D:
> 
> Eh, but at least I managed to finish it before sleeping guys, even if it's 3 am and I need to get up in... uh... 4 hours. Yeeey :D


	27. Of Madness and Death

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song that I listened to while writing this chapter:
> 
> Ruelle - [Bad Dream](https://soundcloud.com/lydtograce/bad-dream-ruelle)

It felt weird, being surrounded by Zetsu. He was almost entirely running under his own power, but it was like there was a certain tightness all around him, strengthening his limbs and lifting some of the challenge that moving around so much still provided. It helped him as his body still tired easily if he ran for too long. Trees and landscape was flying past and for the first time in what felt like forever, Obito could feel, smell and enjoy the fresh air. The air was heavy, as if a storm was brewing and if not for his single-minded determination to reach his teammates as soon as possible, he would have taken a moment to enjoy it. He had become way too used to the dusty-dry air of the cave and the smell of rotten plant-matter and soil.

 

Slowly, rain started to fall. A gentle, steady pitter-patter, that didn't really reach Obito underneath the safety the leaves provided. Maybe later he could take some relief in the natural shower. The cave didn't really provide much opportunity to clean oneself up.

 

Currently, the young shinobi couldn't take any satisfaction or happiness in these things, nor in his surroundings. Not even the taste of freedom stemmed the fear that made his heart race. He could feel some parts of his body flare up in renewed pain, his right side still unused to the strain and his right arm an itching, painful mess from when he had futility tried to punch though a rock-wall alone.

 

Obito had never been a particularly religious person, despite his fear of ghosts and the unnatural. But he couldn't help sending prayers begging for _their_ safety to whatever deity might be listening. He feared coming to late, and when the trees finally thinned out, opening up to reveal a plateau of stones.

 

A grin split his face. He made it. He made it in time and-

 

Then he saw Kakashi.

Kakashi, whose arm went straight through a kunoichi, the lightning fizzling out like the spluttering of a candle.

 

Rin, further behind, screaming in desperation.

 

Minato flicking in and out of existence, enemies dropping and leaving but grim corpses in his wake.

 

His breath hitched. Wrong. This was wrong.

 

Kakashi who had a kunai driven almost to the hilt into his chest.

 

Who was just barely standing, muscles shaking and straining to keep locked in position.

 

Obito felt frozen to the ground, unable to move. He tried to take a step forward but he couldn't. He couldn't even make a sound, it was as if the very air had been sucked right out of him, leaving him as an empty husk.

 

Minato appeared at Kakashi's side, slowly easing the enemy off him and supporting Kakashi's weight.

 

Obito almost didn't notice it, but he took a tiny step back. Only... No. No he didn't. Everything in him wanted to move forward, wanted to race over and _help_. Somehow. If only to be at Kakashi's side, to tell him that it was okay and he was sorry he had made him promise to look after Rin if this was the outcome.

 

“What-” he questioned as Zetsu wrapped around him even more, white strands coiling around him and barring his sight “ _What are you doing?!_ ” he asked, shaken to the core and struggling inside the cocoon that surrounded him.

 

“ _You don't need to see_ _ **that**_ _..._ ” Zetsu crooned in a whisper, almost deceitfully gentle.

  
“No- **no!** I need to get to them! I need to help!” Obito protested, but even straining with all his might, he only managed to lift an arm to his face, trying to move Zetsu away from his eye so he could look-

 

His body moved. Slowly, ever so slowly he started to back off from the scene without his consent, as if he was simply a puppet being manipulated.

 

“Zetsu!! Stop this, let me go!” It was no use. He wasn't in control of his actions and he was moving away, he let out a scream of pure frustration, if only he was loud enough, maybe, just maybe someone would hear and help him.

 

And then he heard it. Kakashi, screaming as if his very soul was being shredded to pieces, a sound he never thought he would ever hear from his rival and never, ever wanted to hear again. Inhuman. Tortured. Until it tapered off into silence.

 

Obito tried to curl his fingers, to rip himself out of this mummification.

 

“What is happening?? Zetsu?!”

 

Pleas and demands and desperate howls went ignored. Obito didn't know how long he fought to no avail, but when Zetsu finally stopped and slowly uncurled from his head, Obito was drenched in sweat, nearly mad with the torrent of emotions in him. He was a mess, tears and snot smeared over his face and staring mulishly into Madara's impassive face. Only his head was freed, and everything else was forced into compliance by the body he had been so thankful had offered him help just a scant few hours before.

 

Madara sighed, looking at Zetsu with a frown.

 

“What happened.” it wasn't a question, it was a demand.

 

“ _ **Bring me back!**_ ” Obito howled out instead of replying.

 

“Things... got a little out of hand.” Zetsu groused, shrugging carelessly, taking Obito's body with the motion.  
  
“ _Out of hand?_ **OUT OF HAND?** ” mad was not even close to what Obito was feeling. This went beyond that. A spitting, hissing sort of mad grief taking hold of him as he was denied being reunited with his family, to say goodbye to Kakashi who had just become his friend but had been his goal and rival and even reluctant support, even if Kakashi mostly didn't intend it that way. Someone who had finally started to acknowledge Obito, who had finally lowered his defences and unwittingly let his two teammates in, a medic nin too gentle for this world and an overly rambunctious Uchiha that his own family wanted nothing to do with him. He had let them in, had cared more than he had shown, Obito knew he did! Especially after Kakashi abandoned a mission to save them, even if it had taken some convincing.

 

Now Kakashi's screams were echoing in his head, Rin's tears – bruised but alive but not not at all the Rin he remembered without her happily smiling face – plastered to the back of his eyelids, burned into memory.

 

“ **Release me...!** ” Obito growled, and in this moment he felt he could have killed them. If he had the ability, he would have wrapped his fingers around his saviours neck and snapped it like a twig without a hint of remorse.

 

Madara looked at him, then turned around and slowly shuffled back to his chair. He sat down and leaned back, closing his eyes for a moment.

 

“Stop ignoring me!” Obito screamed, wishing he could go to him and punch him in the face.

 

When Madara looked back to him, he quieted down. There was cold, frigid cold calculation in his eye, as he mustered Obito. Then he looked at Zetsu.

 

“You messed up.” he said, and Obito felt confused. Messed up? Messed up how?  
  
“I know... It honestly looked good until the brat went and died instead.” Zetsu demurred. Obito shook his head. He didn't understand. He didn't. What...? Kakashi. Kakashi couldn't... Kakashi was strong, he couldn't die that easily...?  
  
Madara looked back at him, distant and seeming to weigh his options.

 

“So the Hatake is dead.” Madara tried to confirm, and Obito felt his body shrug again.

 

“When we left, the Bijuu was in the process of ripping out of the seal.”

 

Bijuu? Oh no. No. How had Kakashi come into contact with a Bijuu? How did a Bijuu get stuck in a person?! And Rin, Rin had also been around!

 

“What is going on?!”

 

Madara was silent for a moment longer, then he chuckled. It wasn't a nice sound.

 

“Apparently a change in plans.” Madara easily replied “I'd have preferred it, if you had gone along with us willingly. So much less of a hassle.”

 

“It could still work-” Zetsu tried but got cut off from Madara.

 

“It doesn't matter. They will be on their guard now, expecting it.” Madara shook his head.

 

“Expecting what?” Obito asked apprehensively, hoping to get some answers “What do you mean you wanted me to go along with you willingly? Answer me!”

 

Madara chuckled again.

 

“We planned to make you see things our way. We tipped Kiri off on your beloved Rin's mission, pointed them in her direction and really, I'm not entirely sure how these imbeciles could have possibly managed to mess this up with the amount of planning we put into this.”

 

Obito's throat closed up in horror. No. They couldn't have wanted Rin to come to harm? Who would possibly want that!

 

“What...?” He asked weakly, shaking his head again “No. No, listen, Rin is... Rin is...”

 

“The easiest way to make you comply, to see how truly horrible this reality is.” Madara drawled.

 

“The easiest.” he repeated, holding Obito's gaze and smiling coldly “But not the only way.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You wanted a follow up on Obito, didn't you? Well, hope this is exactly what you wished for! (ʃƪ¬‿¬)
> 
> Next up might actually be Kushina. Maybe. A few people asked about her POV so I don't see why I shouldn't comply with your wishes!! (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و


	28. Red-hot Habanero

Kushina allowed herself a smile as she walked through the village. Obito's confidence was endearing to see, even if she worried about him and his team. They were so young, and the war didn't discriminate. After loosing her whole village, it was hard not to face the grim reality that the kids under Minato hadn't yet experienced. So... she worried. Especially about the black-haired student, too bright, too clumsy, too young. And his lichen-haired rival. Too confident, too detached, too old for his years. Rin was such a model student compared to those two!

 

Scratch that. Rin was her new favourite. She was hard-working, gentle, and just so adorably cute that Kushina wanted to squish her constantly in a hug. Ungh!

 

She chuckled as she remembered Obito's words once more.

  
“Becoming Hokage? Uchiha Obito, eh?” she mumbled to herself shook her head in fondness, as she glanced up to the stone faces watching over the village. She actually would love to see that happen. He was a little young, and had a lot of work in front of him. But he was hardworking, and Minato would see to it that he got the best training possible. Meanwhile she could stuff them with food and make sure they had their head screwed on right. With violence if necessary.

 

“Well, you better get back here with everyone, just as you promised.” she hummed, slowly making her way back to the apartment as the sun slowly rose over the horizon. Like this, the village was beautiful. Birds just started to wake, people were getting up. In the early morning hours Kushina could almost pretend that there was not a war raging, that Team Minato was just out on a field trip without any dangers that made her insides twist and knot in apprehension. Stretching her arms above her head she shoved her misgiving to the side, and decided to take the longer route and pass by the market first. They would set up the stalls and maybe she could be one of the first to get some good produce before it was all sold out. Good thing she knew fuinjutsu like the back of her hand. It would be easy enough to carry everything home, even without having a bag with her. She always carried a few seals with her, after all.

 

˭̡̞(◞₎๑^ᆺ^)◞₎₎=͟͟͞͞˳˚॰°ₒ৹๐°৹๐॰

 

Opening the door to Minato was a relief, making her smile brightly with a 'welcome back' already half past her lips. Right until she looked him into his beautiful blue eyes. The usual sky-blue tone sparkling with mirth was dulled and dark, like murky water during a storm. He didn't even need to say anything to her, his face was enough confirmation of her greatest fears and made a knot strangle the question that desperately wanted to escape her. Yet at the same time she never wanted to ask. Never wanted the confirmation.

 

Her smile fell and she made a small wounded sound, almost a whimper and Minato quickly stepped forward and dragged her into a hug that was almost bordering on painful, as if she needed the comfort and not him. As if she couldn't see how it teared him apart, whatever it was. She didn't want to know. She didn't. No. No, no. Hadn't she lost enough? Not one of _their kids_. Please...

 

“W-who?” she choked out after what felt like an eternity, unable to stand not knowing any longer than this. She exhaled shakely

 

“Obito...” Minato whispered in her ear, clutching her closer as her legs trembled and her sight grew dizzy. From tears or lack of air, she couldn't say but she knew that currently Minato was the only one that held her up when her knees buckled and threatened to throw her to the ground.

Harsh pants left her as her shaking arms clutched at Minato's chest. No, not _Obito_! She could feel Minato carefully picking her up, bridal style and for once she didn't have it in herself to protest. He stepped past the threshold and kicked the door close behind him, her arms winding around his neck and her face hidden in the curve of where his shoulder and neck met. As if she was a child and simply hiding would make the bitter truth go away.

 

She was so thankful that he had given her the privacy to fall apart, so thankful that he was steady as a big, old tree that she could lean on, even though she knew he was hurting just as much inside.

 

He settled her on the couch in the living room, taking the blanket and spreading it over them, crowding close. As if it was a little blanket-fort for them, and them alone and the world couldn't touch them here. It was that little gesture – one that her parents had been prone to do when Kushina had been a child afraid of the raging sea during the wild, unpredictable storms in Uzushio – that finally made her break down entirely. She clung to Minato as if he was the last driftwood keeping her afloat and let the tears come, big heaving sobs, ugly and tearing out of heir without restraint.

 

She cried and cried, so much that she wondered if it would be able to fill one of the many pools Uzushio had all around the city, back when her clan still lived. Water sparkling and clear, dripping from her chin and soaking into Minato's vest, smelling of blood, travel and a fresh breeze.

 

She cried until only hiccups remained and her throat felt raw.

 

She fell asleep to Minato carefully stroking her hair, placing soft kisses all over her face as if he could dry her tears that way.

 

˭̡̞(◞₎๑^ᆺ^)◞₎₎=͟͟͞͞˳˚॰°ₒ৹๐°৹๐॰

 

Kushina – after her initial break-down – sought to keep herself busy as much as possible in the following days. Despite that, she felt Obito's absence keenly. It was like his shadow lingered, stretched and yet when she looked at it, disappeared like the flicker of a mirage.

She saw it in the tired, hurt eyes of Rin, who didn't really seem to know how to smile honestly right now. Every smile seemed a little too stretched, as if she had looked at one of her old pictures and tried to paint it on her face. It was painful to see, and even more so was her hesitance, as if she didn't know what to do with herself, always looking for someone who just suddenly wasn't there anymore.

She saw it in Minato, when he stared off into the distance, expression cold and mournful. In his lingering silences, his too tight grip on her during the night when he pretended to sleep, and she pretended to sleep, if only so they wouldn't have to speak the heavy thoughts out loud.

 

But to her surprise she saw it the most clearly in Kakashi. The young Jonin kept himself even more buried in work than her, and that was saying something. There was not a single moment she didn't see him train and there was a wild sort of ferocity in his previously cold, detached eyes that had her almost _scared_. For him. Minato saw the same, she could feel him worrying when he paced in the living room instead of sitting down to relax in his time off. He came home late, with a frown on his face and clearly out of his depth.

 

“Kakashi...” he started during dinner once, rolling the name around his mouth as if he wasn't sure how he should sound “Kakashi... is... ehm... stalking Rin?”

 

Kushina did a double take. She felt the ladle slip out of her suddenly numb fingers, splattering into the soup and splashing the content of the pot everywhere.

 

“Excuse me, _what?_ ” out of everything she had thought could happen, this had really, really not been it.

 

Minato winced at her narrowed stare, fidgeting in his seat as if he himself was in trouble.

 

“I think... I think O-Obito told him to... to look after Rin...” Minato coughed, cheeks reddening in second-hand embarrassment “Kakashi is... uh... taking that task very... _**very**_... seriously?”

 

Kushina didn't know whether to laugh or simply stare and wait for Minato to jump up and admit to the prank he was trying to pull on her. After an awkward minute of silence, Kushina felt her mouth drop open in disbelief. _He was serious!?_ Kakashi? _Stalking????_

 

She blinked several times, but Minato's pinched expression didn't change, nor did he correct his words and Kushina tried to fit Kakashi into the picture he had just drawn her.

 

It didn't fit. Except, he had been so different lately. But really, stalking?  
  
She scowled, watching Minato tense and twitch nervously in his seat.

  
“You better make him see that he can't treat his teammate like that.” she growled, feeling anger stir inside her “Especially in the village. Rin is safe and he needs to realize that. The quicker, the better. I do not want that to become a habit!” she shook her head, feeling baffled, and Minato quickly nodded, looking relieved to not be the outlet of her brief burst of anger.

 

She sighed, getting up and getting a rag to clean up the mess she had accidentally made.

 

“Send him on a mission. A bit of a forced separation might make him snap out of it, if he sees that Rin is perfectly fine in his absence, dattebane!”

 

“I already planned to do something similar...” Minato admitted, sighing to himself “It's not healthy, I agree...”

 

Kushina nodded, satisfied that Minato would keep an eye on the situation and wouldn't let Kakashi develop a clearly unhealthy habit.

 

Dinner afterwards was almost pleasant for once, topics remaining on stories of their comrades that Kushina had gathered in the time Minato had been gone. It felt good to laugh, even is the shadow still lingered in the back of their minds...

 

˭̡̞(◞₎๑^ᆺ^)◞₎₎=͟͟͞͞˳˚॰°ₒ৹๐°৹๐॰

 

Two days later Minato send Kakashi off. It was ridiculous how guilty he seemed, clearly torn about the decision. Kushina found it endearing, but she could understand his desire to accompany Kakashi after the last disastrous mission. He couldn't as he was supposed to join the Hokage in planning future missions.

It was an easy mission, a simple courier mission, to and from the frontline, but Kushina felt restless in spite of the reassurance that he was on a team that Minato had hand-picked himself. No harm would come to the kid in their presence. But it was so close to the front-line that Kushina couldn't help but fret, chewing on her thumb-nail as she stared out over the village, looking into the direction of the gates despite knowing that she wouldn't possibly be able to see Kakashi returning from this distance. Especially since it would take the team about a week to return, and this was only the third day.

 

She shook her head, returning to the kitchen to start on dinner. She had invited Rin she had been struggling with Kakashi's additional disappearance. She had seemed so sad, that Kushina couldn't help herself but cook up all the things she knew Rin liked, hoping it would cheer the adorable Chunin up a little.

 

Dinner was a success. Rin smiled, a shy imitation of her previous beaming expression, but it was a start and it lifted a little of the weight that was crushing Kushina's heart. Maybe she would have to cook more often. They would get through this and Rin would find her smile along the way again, Kushina was sure of it.

 

A few days later Kakashi proved that he was a crazy idiot that didn't need enemies to do him in, because he was perfectly capable of doing it himself. If he wasn't already in a hospital, unconscious from chakra-deplention, Kushina would have punched him there herself. It would have relieved some of the fright he had caused, and would relieve the pressure of her worry.

 

Visiting him with Rin – her cute and definitely now favourite little ankle-biter – who had some flowers that she fussily arranged in a vase next to Kakashi's bed, let some of the steam boiling in her cool. Kakashi looked even more pale and small in the white sheets that seemed to drown him, than she had ever seen him before. It made her heart heavy to know he was only twelve years old.

 

With a sigh she put a hand on Rin's shoulder.

 

“He's going to be fine...” she whispered, smiling gently as Rin looked up to her with deepy worried eyes that shimmered wetly.

 

“Don't worry. He will be up and about in no time!” she ruffled the brown silky hair of Minato's only female student and crushed her in a hug.

 

“I don't want to be the only one...” Rin admitted quietly “I... I couldn't stand to loose him too.” she whispered into Kushina's shoulder, making the red-head clutch her tighter. She knew better than most what being the last one meant.

 

“Don't worry. When he gets up I will make him see reason! He will wish he had never worried us!!” she cheerfully replied and then let Rin reluctantly go.

 

“Let's go. He will probably be up tomorrow or the day after. Let's make some tasty food!!” she laughed and even Rin looked a bit more relaxed.

 

“The sooner he is up, the sooner I can put him back into that bed.” Kushina muttered darkly to herself as they stepped out of the room. Honestly, didn't he know when to stop?

 

“What was that?” Rin asked, shooting Kushina a weary glance.

 

“Nothing, nothing!” the red-head waved off with a chuckle. There was no man who hadn't learned a lesson with a little pain yet. Kakashi could handle it, and if he was aware of her temper it only meant he would be more careful in the future, ne?

 

“Let's go and send off Minato...!”

 

˭̡̞(◞₎๑^ᆺ^)◞₎₎=͟͟͞͞˳˚॰°ₒ৹๐°৹๐॰

 

Kakashi didn't wake on that day, nor on the next but the doctors assured them that there was a steady improvement and he was simply resting. Clearly he had been more exhausted than everyone had thought and it made Kushina actually feel bad. She had seen how much he had pushed himself to the limit and beyond, but... she hadn't interfered. Kakashi had always been so independent and in a way mature beyond his years, despite the stunted aspect of his social life. It made it hard for anyone to tell him how to do things, since he often simply refused if he didn't agree. And he was a Jonin, legally he _was_ an adult.

Telling him to stop his training wouldn't have gone over well, but seeing him bedridden this long just showed that maybe she should have tried anyways.

 

She sighed and put the small fruit basket next to his bed.

 

“People are worried, you know?” she said as she took the unconscious teen's hand.

  
“You should take better care of yourself, dattebane...” she whispered. If she fluffed up his pillow and smoothed out the blankets around him, or maybe tucked him in a little more... well, nobody saw, and she wouldn't admit to it ever. He would wake soon, she was sure of that.

 

Rin would be a little sad if she missed it, she had hardly left Kakashi's side if not prompted to. Only the temptatin to help Kakashi in whatever far-fetched way had enticed her to accept the mission to collect some herbs on the slopes and plains past Otafuku Gai, closer to Wave, but still remaining inside their borders. It was about day or two away from Konoha, depending on the speed they would travel.

 

It was far from any battles taking place, which reassured Kushina a little. She would be safe.

 

˭̡̞(◞₎๑^ᆺ^)◞₎₎=͟͟͞͞˳˚॰°ₒ৹๐°৹๐॰

 

She was a little baffled what Namiashi-kun could want on her doorstep early this morning.

 

“I'm sorry?” she asked, rubbing her eyes, trying to get rid of the sleepy sand clinging to her. He looked a little uncomfortable, shifting from one foot to another.

 

“I... I wanted to know is Minato-san is here? I'm sorry to distrub you this early...” he really did look apologetic, especially as Kushina tried to hide a yawn behind her hand with little success.

 

“Uhm...” she shook her head “I'm sorry, but he has been send out to the front-lines...” she replied. In fact, she would most likely be called for another mission herself.

 

“Oh...” Namiashi-kun seemed at a loss, then he stiffly bowed “Pardon my intrusion then.” he said and Kushina waved him off.

 

“It's fine, dattebane!” she smiled, and chuckled as the Jonin walked away.

 

“Wonder what that was about...?” she muttered as she closed her door.

 

Deciding it was too early to deal with the world and having the rare chance to sleep in, she crawled back into her bed. No sooner than her head had hit the pillow, she could hear the doorbell ring again.

 

Nope. No. She was sleeping, if this was some sort of prank she was not awake for it.

 

The doorbell rang again. Then again. Then stopped. Smiling to herself, she relaxed into the soft bed and hugged a pillow close to herself. Perfect. She knew ignoring it would make it go away.

 

Only it didn't. Instead it moved to her bedroom window and knocked.

 

Half incredulous and ready to rip whoever thought it was a great idea to look in on her bedroom window a new one, she turned around and then stopped to blink at the ANBU-masked man hovering in her window.

 

“...” narrowing her eyes she slowly sat up, still hugging her pillow because otherwise she would punch whoever he was.

 

“Is there a reason you are in my window, ANBU-san?” she asked with a deceitfully mild voice and an angelic smile that Minato had learned to fear early on. Apparently the ANBU had some instincts that still worked right, even if he had made a bad misjudgement in appearing in her window when she was trying to sleep. She could have been naked, and despite not being shy of her body, he would better have a very good reason for trying to sneak a peak.

 

“Ah.” he said, clearly contemplating fleeing the scene of the crime or accomplishing his mission. Kushina's temper was well known after all.

 

“I... rang. The bell.” he coughed uncomfortably. She narrowed her eyes even further, her form tensing because that was not. A good. Reason.

 

“Uh- I mean, I was send her to ask you if you had seen Hatake Kakashi and if you might know where he is _andpleasedon'tkillme_?” he quickly said in one breath and she let him sweat for a moment before letting out a light huff. With her right hand she bushed some of the red strands falling into her face in a sleepy chaos back behind her ear.

 

“I visited him yesterday evening. I haven't seen him since, has he woken?” she asked instead, still contemplating throwing the pillow in hopes of hitting the ANBU and making him fall from his delicate perch of her window-frame.

 

“Hatake Kakashi is missing. The nurse came to his room to find him gone and so far we can't locate him. Could you possibly give us any possible location he might be at?”

 

Kushina finally put the pillow to the side. Missing? That wasn't like Kakashi, though she could believe that he would escape the hospital as soon as he was able to.

 

Once she listed off any possible location she could think off. Which actually wasn't a lot, as Kakashi spend most of his time in a training ground or another. Otherwise she wasn't entirely sure, in his apartment maybe? The ANBU nodded and as quickly as he appeared, he vanished.

Feeling unsettled she quickly dressed herself in her uniform, pulling her hair back into a pony-tail. She would look for Kakashi herself and drag him back by his ear when she found him.

 

Only she couldn't. Find him that is. Feeling at a loss, she headed for the Hokage tower. If anyone knew what had happened to Kakashi, it would be the Hokage and Kushina was willing to wait however long it took to get the information she needed. A sense or foreboding made her nearly ill.

 

She couldn't imagine how she would explain to Minato and Rin that Kakashi was gone when he should have been safe in the hospital. What had happened to him? Had an enemy gotten him, in the middle of their village? Why? How??

 

She didn't want to be the one to bear the bad news.

 

She wasn't entirely sure they would survive it if another tragedy stuck them so close after the last one.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... I cut the chapter in half. Sorry Q_Q But Kushina already broke the record so: Longest chapter goes to her currently :P
> 
> Sorry about the day break, had a headache so I skipped ^^
> 
> Other than that, you guys are amazing :D We broke 1000 comments guys! (((o(*＾▽＾*)o))) Thanks a lot for all the support!!!


	29. Red-hot Habanero II

Going and laying siege on the Hokage office was not exactly the brightest plan. It took ages for him to find the time to see her – which okay, war going on and everything but everyone had their priorities and Kushina's were a little screwed right now – and when she finally got called in, the only thing that she could ascertain was that there was a manhunt going on and they were still investigating. But they had detected a signature – a single one – leaving the barriers surrounding Konoha.

 

It was not the news Kushina had wanted to hear. Had Kakashi found a spy and confronted him? Was he lying somewhere wounded, helpless, dying while she was here being useless? Had the spy left Konoha in a hurry afterwards, fearing the repercussions and fleeing before he could be caught?

Kushina felt her hands fist into balls, anger making them tremble at the thought of anyone touching her patchwork family.

Never before had Kushina wished that she had some sort of tracking ability but she sure as hell would make a seal to keep track of her wayward family from now on. There had to be something she could cobble together that would let her find them, at least when they were in the village. She just had to get them to agree to the invasion of privacy and _create_ the seal first.

 

Maybe she could put a secret seal on Kakashi's mask. Nobody needed to know. The mask was black and Kakashi wore it to everywhere. The only problem was if he had multiple masks, it was hard to tell if they all looked the same. It meant she would have to find a way to make it permanent too, at least so it wouldn't wash off whenever Kakashi did the laundry-

 

And she was getting ahead of herself. First priority should be finding Kakashi and dragging him back from whatever hole he was hiding in. And the Hokage had almost literally thrown her out and basically ordered her away!

 

Crossing her arms, Kushina glared at the group of Chunin that just passed her, a few of them watching her with wide eyes and stepping around her as if sticking to the other wall of the hallway would make her overlook them. Taking a breath she reigned in her anger and tabbed a finger against her lips in thought. Now, where to go. What to do. The Hokage clearly was stressed, had already assigned a team to tracking Kakashi and was waiting for any more information to come to him.

 

Well. She _could_ wait. But she also had other options.

 

But the first ones to know anything about a spy...

 

Kushina smiled, turned around and skipped away.

 

The first person she managed to locate was probably the easiest of them all. Gai was hardly hard to overlook and drew attention like a magnet.

 

“Ah! Gai-kun!” she called out before the Chunin could race past her and disappear into the distance. Gai skidded to a halt, then jogged the distance back to her. He kept moving, even while standing still and beamed at her.

 

“Kushina-san! Good day to you! Can I help you?” always so polite, Kushina always liked Gai and had taken more than one Chunin down a peg or two when she had seen them laughing about his father, who was one of the most hard-working, cheerful if a bit clumsy persons she had ever known.

 

“I think Kakashi was looking for you? If you see him, send him my way?” maybe a bit mean, Kushina thought silently to herself while smiling sunnily. But Kakashi deserved it for worrying her.

 

“YOSH!” Gai pumped his fists in the air “I shall find my rival within the hour! And if I can't do that, I will do 400 push-ups!”

 

“A-ano... You don't really nee-” Kushina tried to interject.

 

“And if I can't do 400 push-ups, I will hit the training dummy 800 times!”

 

“Ah. That really isn't...!”

 

“And if I can't hit the training dummy 800 times? I will do 1000 jump ropes!”

 

“...” Kushina watched as Gai raced off, leaving a cloud of dust in his wake.

 

“Ah, well. He surely is motivated at least. That should get Kakashi out of wherever he's hiding...”

 

But just in case...

 

Humming to herself, Kushina turned around and sauntered over to the Dango place she knew that particular generation frequented a lot. Whenever they were around, this seemed to be the meeting place for them, so if she was looking for someone particular...

 

“Shiranui-san!” she exclaimed happily as she brushed aside the hangings while entering the shop. Oh Dango! For a moment she nearly got sidetracked, but Genma had looked up to see what she wanted.

 

“Kushina-san?”

 

But dangooooo....

 

“Did you want something from me?” Genma's voice made her reluctantly look up from the delicious treats. Fine. Dango later. Kakashi was just barely above dango-priority.

 

“I was wondering if any of you had seen Kakashi around?” she smiled at them, but watching their expression as they looked at each other made her uneasy.

 

“You are not the first ones to ask us that.” Asuma said, frowning at her “Did something happen?”

 

Ah. had an ANBU stopped by? No, probably someone under a henge asking after Kakashi, they probably didn't want to draw too much attention to him.

 

“I went to the hospital, but it seems he already left...” she replied with an easy shrug “I wanted to check on him, but as usual he's hard to find.” Kushina let out a sigh, blinking at the adorable little Chunin's and Jonins that gobbled up her excuse without further prompting. So innocent. She wanted to hug them. Uhng!

 

“Mhh... I can't say we have seen him?” Genma shrugged, eyeing her with a shrewdness that put her on guard. He was a menace, that was for sure and if there was juicy gossip to be had, he would know. Since he didn't, it meant that whatever had happened to Kakashi hadn't caused a scene.

 

At least that hopefully meant he was neither bleeding out in a back-ally, nor back in the hospital.

 

“Too bad.” Kushina said, ordered herself some dango and left with a wave over her shoulder. Nibbling on her treat she contemplated her next destination, then chuckled.

 

Torture and Interrogation would know more. And if they didn't, then it would bother them until _they would find out more_. Win-win situation for Kushina.

 

Whistling a merry tune (whenever she wasn't slowly enjoying her sweet treat), Kushina jumped on the rooftops to take a shortcut. She knew just the person to talk to.

 

Skidding to a stop on a particular roof she cheerfully called out.

 

“Mi-ko-too~” and promptly jumped through the window, dodging the kunai thrown at her person with practiced eased to glomp the woman standing in front of the hearth. If she plucked some senbon out of her victims hands while she was at it, that was simply survival instinct.

 

“Kushina!!” Mikoto sounded as if she wasn't sure if she should be yelling or just simply quietly despair. Laughing merrily, she squeezed her friend a last time before reluctantly releasing her.

 

“I told you time and time again not to surprise me when I'm cooking!!” Mikoto scolded, turning around and looking the least bit threatening with her pale-pink apron and a ladle that was being pointed at Kushina's face, dripping with soup. Mikoto grimaced as she saw the tomato soup drip on the ground and shot Kushina another reproachful look, especially since the red-head couldn't suppress another chuckle.

 

“Gomen ne?” As always her friends features softened and she sighed, returning to her task at hand.

 

“To what do I owe the dubious pleasure of your company??” the dark haired woman asked, but she sounded fond rather than annoyed. Kushina counted it as another victory, even as she sat on the table.

 

“Use the goddamn chairs.” Mikoto muttered as she taste-tested the soup without looking back. The Jinchuriki squinted at the female Uchiha. Sometimes she could swear that Mikoto had been switched at birth and was truly a Hyuuga in disguise.

 

“You don't know that's what I was doing.” Kushina crossed her arms with a petulant pout.

 

“I know you and that is enough.” Mikoto smirked over her shoulder and raised one of her dark eyebrows “So? What are you here about?”  
  
“Can't a woman visit her bestest friend in the world?” Kushina asked innocently, swinging her legs and leaning back on her outstretched arms, palms laying flat on the table “We haven't done anything in aaaages.”

 

“Because we were on missions.” Mikoto dryly replied “At different times. Whenever you were out of the village, I was here, having a nice, uninterrupted time cooking.”

 

“Meanie.” Kushina laughed “Nah, you are right. I really _do_ need something. A favour?” she asked sheepishly, tugging on one of heir strands of hair that fell into her face in a self-conscious gesture she never had been really able to break.

 

“Oh?” Mikoto put the pot from the fire and turned around to face Kushina fully “Do tell. I do so love you owing me a few favours!” Mikoto snickered, a wicked look in her eyes that she rarely showed outside of her work. Kushina shivered, but she knew Mikoto wouldn't ever misuse a favour. It had been something they had kept up since they had befriended each other in their teens. It was silly little tasks, like getting revenge on a boy with a prank, helping out with spreading some rumors, or getting each other out of trouble. It worked fabulously for them.

 

“Kakashi was in the hospital, I told you about that?” At Mikoto's nod she continued “Well, he's not there anymore. I mean... He escaped and nobody can find him, I just wanted to know if you had heard anything or could tell me _if_ you hear anything about him?”

 

Mikoto tipped her head to the side, face more serious now.

 

“I can't say I've heard anything.” she replied slowly “But I can see what I can do. That Morino kid should be easy enough to pump for information. He's rather new in the ranks and while he doesn't know the juicy stuff, he's good for getting general information...” she smiled, one of her chilling smiles that had Kushina break out in nervous sweat whenever she saw it. It was the _I-can't-wait-to-squeeze-information-out-of-you-by-whatever-means-necessary_ smile, one that had just the right amount of sunny innocence to it that it would have the victim doubtful and hopeful about his future before Mikoto resolutely destroyed that notion. She was just glad it was not aimed at her.

 

“I adore your ruthlessness as much as I fear it.” she declared and chuckled as Mikoto beamed at her. For her it would be the greatest compliment. Rolling her eyes, Kushina jumped off the table, glomped a protesting Mikoto again and jumped onto the windowsill “get back to me when you know more?” She asked with a cheerful smile and ignored the spluttering “Use the goddamn door you heathen!” that was shouted behind her.

 

Now that she had Mikoto on her side to probe for information, she wondered who else could help her. The ANBU surely would have checked all the training grounds before coming to her.

 

…

 

Maybe she should visit Tsume?  
  
Shrugging to herself, it couldn't hurt. Kushina didn't know if she would find friend as they hadn't talked in a while, but it was worth a try.

 

Throwing her empty dango stick into a wastebin, Kushina decided to take the shortcut through one of the little forest-training grounds.

 

The barking was the first indication that she had been spotted. She laughed as a few Ninken came to greet her. Since she came over from time to time they were quite friendly with her, playfully jumping up to try and lick at her face.

  
“Off!” she gently shoved their snouts away with a laugh and headed for the front door that was already opening.

 

“Ah, Hana-chan!” Kushina called out to the six year old standing in the doorway and bent down to pick her up and swing her around.

 

“Aww, you are even more adorable and fearsome than the last time I saw you!” she said, putting the little academy student back on her own feet when it looked like Hana couldn't decide if she wanted to scowl at being called adorable and being picked up or beam at Kushina for calling her fearsome. The mix of both was hilarious and made Kushina want to just squish her again. Gently she ruffled Hana's hair.

  
“Is your mother around?” she asked and almost sighed in disappointment when Hana shook her head.

  
“No. Mama is at the front lines, beating up the bad people.” Hana said, punching the air as if to visualize her mother's fierceness. Kushina smiled.

 

“I see. You mother will put the fear into them! She's awesome like that!” she considered the little girl, and truly, maybe it made her a bad person but Hana was a good tracker for her age. But what if Kakashi was in trouble after all? She couldn't send a child into that kind of danger and Tsume would rip her a new one if she ever found out.

 

Seeing as Kushina didn't have any more plans for the day...?  
  
“Say... would you mind helping me out for a bit?” She asked, and if Kushina was with her she wouldn't let any harm come to Tsume's pup.

 

“Sure!” Hana agreed easily enough “What do you need?” curious as any child and just as eager to prove herself. Kushina smiled fondly as she crouched down in front of the Inuzuka.

  
“I'm trying to find someone.” she gestured at her hair, fingers splayed white “He has wild hair that looks like that of an old man, but he's only twelve so he's only a little bigger than you...!” she indicated his hight.

 

“He's very shy, so he always wears a mask.” to visualize it she tugged up the dress she was wearing until it was covering her nose. Hana giggled at the silly image Kushina made.

 

“I can't track him without a scent though!” she said as if that was obvious, and, yeah okay, maybe to her it was. Kushina sheepishly let her dress fall down and contemplated what to do. Finally she shrugged, breaking into Kakashi's apartment would be the least of her sins when this day was over and she got her hands on the brat.

 

˭̡̞(◞₎๑^ᆺ^)◞₎₎=͟͟͞͞˳˚॰°ₒ৹๐°৹๐॰

 

Kushina was very glad she had made Hana wait outside. She knew Kakashi was paranoid, but the amount of traps on his door were ridiculous. Did he ever use the door?  
  
It took her at least 20 minutes to dismantle everything and honestly, she hadn't exactly wanted to announce that she had broken in but she simply couldn't be bothered to put all the crap back in place. If Kakashi hadn't been missing, she wouldn't have needed to come here to steal something out of his bare apartment. Looking around she sighed. It was small, cramped and entirely void of personality. She should get him a plant. Or something. Dear raging sea, this was... yeap. Nope. Kushina put a hand on her hip as she once more surveyed the apartment. There was militant and there was bare. If she needed to break in more often, she would, but Kakashi would have to live with some colour in his life aside from the one and only picture she could see.

 

With an eyeroll she approached his bed and plucked up a pillow. Then she looked up and nearly had a conniption. The window? Had. No. Traps.

 

With a rueful shake of her head she opened it and jumped out, pillow tucked under her arm.

 

She and her little faithful minion had a brat to track.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... Okay, I hope you are not sick of Kushina yet, because I had to split the chapter again. She's fun to write xD But somehow she gets into things I hadn't planned or accounted for and before I know it she's already taken up another 3 pages..........
> 
> Whoops? :D


	30. Red-hot Habanero III

There were a lot of places Kushina would have rather thought the scent-trail Hana had dutifully followed would end up.

 

Rin's residence wasn't a surprise, especially considering Kakashi's recent behaviour – and apparently the mission hadn't helped nearly as much as Kushina would have liked. After Rin, he had clearly returned to his apartment before heading out again.

 

Being led to the apartment of Raido Namiashi though...

Well, there was coincidence and there was a suspicious gut-feeling that dropped heavily into her stomach like a brick of lead. What could Kakashi have wanted from Raido? And how was it connected to Raido seeking out Minato? Because it was connected or Kushina would eat a kunai.

 

“Meh.” Kushina commented unhappily on the situation, crossing her arms over her chest and staring moodily at the wall. This was stupid. She would have to see if she couldn't track down Raido whom she had just met this morning before sending him on his merry way. That was utterly unfair, if she had known then what she knew now she would have dragged him into her apartment and kept him there until he had spit out every last secret his short live could have accumulated.

 

“Not here either?” she asked instead, unwilling to leave her tracker before they finished searching.

 

Raido could wait until she tracked Kakashi down, maybe she wouldn't need his assistance anymore then and could spare him the trauma she probably would inflict upon him by kidnapping and extorting information from.

 

Hana shook her head at the question, but her Ninken were already searching around, barking as they found a new lead and eagerly skipping ahead in the rush to be the first to find their prey. Kushina and Hana followed them in a jog.

 

The path led them back to Kakashi's apartment, and after quite some time they found another trail, more hidden going over the roof and leading away. Hana was a little embarrassed to have missed it, but she couldn't really climb buildings yet and her Ninken had of course picked up the trails on the ground first, before Kushina had picked them up and brought them to the roof. It was quite a dilemma, as she contemplated how they would continue tracking Kakashi when non of her trackers were very well-versed in walking with chakra. Imagining Tsume's face when Kushina told her that her daughter was in the hospital because she fell of a building...

 

Yeah. No.

 

Sighing she crouched down.

 

“On my back, little fierce warrior.” she told Hana who shyly complied, sneaking her thin arms around Kushina's neck. The redhead carefully stood up and snatched two of the puppies up by the ruff of their neck, handed one of them to Hana before getting the third one.

 

“Hold on tight. I'll go slow but you will have to direct me.”

 

It was ridiculous, jumping from roof to roof and letting the Ninken loose on each one to see where the trail was going. After picking up the general direction it became easier, as Kakashi seemed to have mostly headed in a straight path. Though what he was doing heading towards the red-light district Kushina really, really wanted to know. If she found out he was snooping around here while she was worried sick...!

Well, she was glad that it was still daytime or otherwise she would have needed to call it off. If Tsume would get angry about any broken bones, that would be nothing to what Kushina would face if her daughter started asking questions about the naked women in the windows.

It was almost a relief that the trail led straight out again, without seeming to linger. More worrying was that they were nearing the edge of the village and Kushina really couldn't explain why he would come here.

 

Finally they arrived at the great wall that surrounded the entire village. The Ninken all gathered at the foot of it, sniffing at the same spot. Kushina lowered Hana to the ground and watched them, contemplating the situation and what it meant.

 

Kakashi had left the village.

 

It was mind-boggling.

 

Kakashi. Had left. The village.

 

_Without permission._

 

Kakashi! _**Without permission!!**_

 

Why? Kushina bit her lip and balled her fists, reigning in her emotions, the frustration and helplessness and the stirring anger from deep within.

 

“Is there another lead?” she gently asked, though it took all her willpower to not scream and rage and break the stupid wall in front of her to pieces. It wouldn't help, but it would certainly make her feel better.

 

“I'll have them look.” Hana seriously nodded, looking so much like Tsume in that short moment that Kushina had to blink to make sure Tsume hadn't shrunk and replaced her “Urami, go left, Imaru, go right.” she ordered her ninken who eagerly perked up at their respective names “Ranmaru, look around in the area. Howl when you find another lead.” Kushina barely repressed a coo. Hana looked like a miniature version of a commander ordering her troops to battle and it was so freaking adorable. Maybe Kushina just had a weakness for adorableness.

 

In the end though it didn't matter. The Ninken came back, sweaty and clearly done for the day. Hana was near tears because she thought she had asked her Ninken for too much and petted them as if they were about to die, instead of simply resting in the shade and in need of some water.

 

Kushina sighed, shoulders slumping in defeat.

 

Kakashi really was gone.

 

Or maybe Hana was mistaken? Maybe Kakashi's trail would pick up somewhere else. Had he visited someone on the wall, who was on duty...?

 

…

 

…

 

Scratch that. Stupid question. That would mean Kakashi had friends he was willing to go out of his way to visit. Mission-is-my-first-priority-Kakashi distracting someone from work? Pfff. Don't make her laugh.

 

With a sigh Kushina rubbed a hand over her face. Ahh. She would make him _regret_ worrying her like this.

 

“Alright. I think that's it for today.” she smiled down at Hana “Let me treat you and your Ninken to something to eat. You were a great help, dattebane!”

 

Seeing Hana beam at her and the little Ninken perk up in interest at the mention of food made the tangled mess in her breast loosen a little.

 

Still, she felt a bit guilty for switching her real body with a Shadow clone. Not that Hana would notice, and it was unlikely anything would make the clone just suddenly disappear. But she had a Hokage to talk to and it couldn't wait.

 

˭̡̞(◞₎๑^ᆺ^)◞₎₎=͟͟͞͞˳˚॰°ₒ৹๐°৹๐॰

 

This time she didn't wait around to be called into the Hokage's office. She simply jumped through the window, then quickly dropped into a crouch, a half-kneel position with one hand flat on the ground and the other arm in a straight horizontal position over her bend knee, head bowed in submission. Her hands were visible as ANBU surrounded her.

 

“Hokage-sama.” she waited, heard his sigh and felt the presence of ANBU retreat. Carefully she looked up and met his exasperated eyes.

 

“One of these days, one of my ANBU will snap and I will look the other way.” Sarutobi grumbled as he mentioned her to stand up.

 

“What is so important that it couldn't wait?” he asked, shoulders dropping as if he knew he wouldn't like whatever Kushina had interrupted his day for a second time now.

 

“I've tracked Kakashi to the village border.” Kushina came straight to the point, straightening up with her hands at her sides “It is likely that he has left, though I'm not yet sure if it was of his own will or not. I request to be send out after him.” She bowed, eyes closed as she prayed he would agree. She couldn't just sit around and do nothing!”

 

Sarutobi sighed, heavy in the way Kushina had long since learned to read as his I-really-wish-I-could-but-I-have-to-decline sigh. She squeezed her eyes shut even more and bit her lip.

 

“I know Kakashi left the village. The team I send out for him already brought my attention to that.” Sarutobi explained “I've send some reinforcements to follow after him. And I have a message from Minato that he is on his way as well.”

Kushina's eyes snapped open in surprise on that information and her head jerked up.

 

“What?” How? How had Minato known? It was only possible if-

 

Her eyes widened even further.

 

“Kakashi had one of Minato's kunais and he used it?” she whispered. Kakashi might be a kid, but he was a damn capable one. For him to leave the village and encounter trouble that he would request Minato as backup?  
  
It suddenly felt as if her heart was squeezed in an iron-grip.

 

“I have to go. Sandaime-sama! Minato is days away on the front-line, there is no way-”  
  
“Minato will make it in time.” Sarutobi cut her off with a head-shake “and I already send out another team for Kakashi, they've been gone for several hours now and are quite capable.”

 

Sarutobi leaned forward in his seat “If possible I wouldn't have wanted to involve Minato either, but he is already on his way and Kakashi is his student, so he has more leeway.” Sarutobi explained “We do not know what Kakashi was thinking, deserting the village as he did. But as of now he is considered a flight risk, and in the worst case might become a missing nin. You are too close to the situation and until I know anything further, you are to step back.” he stared at her, unwavering “That is an order.”

 

Kushina clenched her teeth and straightened up, eyes blazing with fury as she gave a short bow again.

  
“As you wish.” she glared and for a short moment it was gratifying to see the Hokage look actually a little uncomfortable in face of her ire. She rolled her shoulders and let it go with a sigh.

 

“I'd ask to be informed if anything else happens.” don't let it be said that she couldn't be curteous. Honey did catch more flies then vinegar, after all.

 

“I know Kakashi. He wouldn't abandon the village.” she didn't know what had made him leave the way he did, but she knew that it was not due to a lack of loyalty.

 

Sarutobi looked at her for a long moment, then inclined his head in agreement. She left shortly after.

 

˭̡̞(◞₎๑^ᆺ^)◞₎₎=͟͟͞͞˳˚॰°ₒ৹๐°৹๐॰

 

Kushina went home after that. She went home and cooked until every available surface was brimming with food. When she looked at the mess she heaved a sigh. There was no way she would be able to eat everything she had made. She could freeze some things, like the soups, for when she didn't want to cook, but the rest...

 

She would have to give some of it away, tomorrow. Slowly she packed up what she wouldn't be able to eat by herself the next few days. She knew enough people to divide it and letting it go to waste, especially during war time, was a crime in and itself. She would give some of it to her friends and fellow comrades.

 

She had just put a bunch of things in the Jonin-lounge when an ANBU appeared at her side.

 

“Hokage-sama is calling you.” he said and disappeared just as quickly as he had appeared.

 

A moment later a shinobi opened the door and trotted in, eyes flickering to her but mostly fixed on the food and Kushina rolled her eyes. Subtle. Real subtle there. Probably a henge.

 

She snorted and gave him a little wave as she stepped past him.

 

It was already dark outside and Kushina once more took the short-cut through the window. Thanks to the Kyubi she could feel the annoyance that radiated from the ceiling, but couldn't be bothered to apologize.

 

“You summoned me, Hokage-sama?” she asked as she stood to attention in front of his desk. A quick look over his desk made her heart start to pound. A small toad was sitting there, watching her. It was one of Minato's and that meant news. By the tired look on the Hokage's face she was certain it wasn't good news.

 

“He's dead.” She whispered, world already spinning around her. He was dead and Minato and her had lost another kid.

 

“No.” the croaking of the toad ripped her out of the panic that had started to build, leaving her shaken but hopeful.

 

“No?” she repeated and hated herself that she sounded so small and weak, but the relief was immeasurable. Not... not dead? Then why...?  
  
The toad looked at the Hokage who nodded, then carefully turned around and faced her.

 

“Minato has made contact with Kakashi. While gravely injured, he will survive. Rin is also with them and has not sustained any wounds, as far as I know.”

 

Rin? Why was Rin- of course. Kakashi had gone after Rin when he couldn't find her? But even for him, that was a tad excessive, wasn't it? Kushina frowned.

  
“What are his injuries?” She asked and the toad shifted uncomfortably on the table, making her eyes narrow.

 

“What. Are. His. Injuries.” she almost growled out, her voice taking on a deeper timbre, a spark of chakra she usually held under rigid control slipping out. She could feel the ANBU shifting around her and clamped down on it, breathing deep. As always the Kyubi used every opportunity to get past her. She wouldn't allow him, but she wanted answers and she wanted them now.

 

“It appears as if Kakashi has been held in captivity by Kiri-nins. There are signs of torture and he has sustained multiple stab-wounds in his escape.” Kushina gritted her teeth at the knowledge. _Stab wounds!_ _ **Torture!!**_ While she had been running around the village and _cooking_!!  
This time it was so much harder to keep control of the chakra that latched eagerly on to her anger, making her shake as she struggled for control. It rarely happened to her nowadays.

 

“There is more... but...” the toad looked at the Hokage who nodded. A hand-sign and the ANBU signatures retreated further. Then he put his hand on the table and channelled chakra into the seal hidden on the surface. It glowed, and spread like electricity through the room, fuinjutsu writing lightning up in a deep blue before disappearing just as fast.

 

“The room is secure again. Continue.” The Hokage said. Kushina knew seals and this was an impressive one, old and carefully crafted. A masterpiece that would keep anyone from overhearing what was going on inside the office. She wondered if she could get her hands on a blueprint and recrea-

 

Right. Important discussion happening here, Fuinjutsu would have to come later.

 

“Hatake Kakashi appears to have left the village to go after his teammate Rin Nohara. According to her, he appeared just in time to extract her and her fellow comrade from an ambush of a unit of Kiri-nin that have found their way past our border-patrol.” the toad explained with a frown. A whole unit should not have made it past their border and patrols without being detected. It made her uneasy that it apparently had happened and that they had somehow gotten as close as a days march away from Konoha's heart.

 

“She estimates it had been about thirty enemies, but couldn't tell for sure. Kakashi then proceeded to distract the enemy while she tried to heal up her wounded comrade.”

 

Kushina thought she would be sick. Kakashi. Her twelve year old little Jonin. Against thirty enemies or more, all on his own? No wonder he had been captured. And by Kiri, some of the most brutal Ninja's there were. Their village was known as the Bloody Mist for a reason.

 

“Rin tells us she was exhausted, and Okita, her comrade unconscious. She wasn't able to go on and passed out on Kakashi when he returned.”

 

Wait. Kakashi returned?? But then why... _how_ had he been captured?

 

“She woke up hidden in a cave that had been mostly closed off with a doton-jutsu. Apparently Minato's dagger was nearby and Kakashi had disappeared. She then proceeded to follow tracks of his Ninken with Okita as her back-up.”

 

“What.. why did...? No, this doesn't make sense! Why did Kakashi not hide with them?” Kushina shook her head “And Rin, why would Rin... she should have come back for back-up...” not that she could fault her. Kushina wouldn't have gone back and left a comrade behind either but she wished that Rin would have done just that and gotten herself to safety. A selfish wish but the knowledge that she could have lost all of them...

 

“It appears the trail of Pakkun led them around the enemies and to a back-entrance of the cave Kakashi was held in. He was injured but able to walk, so they decided to take him and make a run for it. Rin healed as much as she could, but Kakashi... well. He was exhausted and injured. The enemy caught up to them and Okita tried to engage them. Kakashi saved his life by using a Kawarimi and nearly died in the process.”

 

It was horrible to hear the things that had happened second hand. She knew she couldn't do anything about it now but she wished she could.

 

“Minato arrived in the nick of time and disposed of the rest of the enemy.”

 

The toad focused on her, it's stare unwavering and a little bit creepy.

  
“Kakashi wasn't only tortured by the enemy though. It appears that the enemy has made him the unwilling sacrifice and he contains a similar burden to yourself now, Kushina-chan. We do not know which Bijuu he has, but it is the only reason he survived and even then he nearly lost control of it. The seal that was used on him is unstable, close to breaking. We believe Kakashi was aware of the danger and tried to kill himself before reaching Konoha, to prevent the Bijuu from escaping in the village.”

 

Kushina could hear a buzzing sound in her ears. It felt like she had taken an impossibly strong hit she hadn't seen coming. She blinked slowly, had she misheard?

 

“What...” she croaked out near soundless, horror rising as the the realization of what had happened to Kakashi welled up. Oh gods. No. Becoming a sacrifice was... it wasn't something she particularly wished on anyone. She had become one of her own free will, because she had been an Uzumaki and especially suited for it. It had been an honour to take over for Mito-sama, but that didn't mean she hadn't been aware of how it would change her life. Mito had made sure she was aware how Jinchūriki were treated nearly everywhere, and what to expect by becoming one herself. She had been prepared for it for years.

 

Kakashi had none of that. It had been thrust upon him without a notice, without his consent and without checking if he was even build for containing a Bijuu. If he could handle the chakra and survive. He had been made into a time-bomb, send off to be a suicide package that would unravel when he entered his own home that he had sworn to protect.

 

Kushina felt sick. She swayed a little and only her grip on the table kept her on her feet.

 

“God... is.. is he?” she felt a suspicious burning sensation in her eyes “Is he okay...? How... the seal, how bad is it? Oh gods, I... let me see. Please, I'm the best fuinjutsu master you have, if anyone can do _something_ it _will_ be me, Hokage-” she turned away from the toad to face her leader. Sarutobi held up his hand to her to stop further ramblings. Reluctantly Kushina obeyed and pressed her lips together in a firm line, hands forming trembling fists at her side.

 

“That is why I have called you here. Minato has managed to contain the seal and strengthened it with one of his own. It will hold for now but Kakashi was in near constant pain from the Bijuu-chakra in his system. He's not handling it well.” Sarutobi looked tired. He had likely not slept a wink in the time since she had last been in the office.

 

“I've prepared a cell on the outskirts of the village-” a cell?! Kushina drew herself up in outrage but deflated mulishly at the sharp, tired look the Hokage send her “it is covered in seals to contain chakra. I also want you to look at these.” he pushed a small hinged lid container over the table and Kushina gingerly opened it. In it lay cuffs, old metal cuffs that were inscribed by seals. She felt sick when she thought about who they were for and almost didn't want to touch them.

 

“Get a grip Kushina. I'm not doing this for fun.” the Hokage snapped at her, clearly not in the mood to be questioned “Kakashi doesn't handle the chakra of the Bijuu well. This will keep not only his but also the Bijuu's chakra at bay and will hopefully make it more bearable for him.”

 

Ah. Feeling a little sheepish for expecting the worst from her Hokage, Kushina took one of the cuffs into her hand, studying the seal. Already her mind was coming up with a few improvements.

  
“Give me a few hours and I will get back to you...” she absent-mindedly told him, eyes trailing over the fine script carved into the metal.

 

“Good.” Sarutobi sighed and leaned back. Kushina looked up and felt a stab of pity at the wrinkles and shadows beneath his eyes. He looked like death warmed over.

 

“Please.” she approached the table “Let me look at Kakashi's seal. I'm an expert, the best qualified for the job and if the Bijuu breaks out, one of the only ones that can handle it and keep it from going on a rampage. Give him in my care.”

 

The Hokage eyed her wearily. He leaned back and lit up one of his pipes, puffing furiously as he stared at the cuffs of the table.

 

“You are too close to the situation.” he sighed out “And a Jinchūriki yourself.” Kushina bit her lip so hard she could taste the metallic tang of copper. She wanted to yell at him, but forced herself to wait because it didn't seem like he was finished.

 

“We don't have all the information yet. There is still the question as to why Kakashi has left without permission in the first place... but yes, you are our best fuinjutsu master. And more than capable of handling an out of control Bijuu, should it come to that.”

 

Sarutobi took another long drag of his pipe, mulling the situation over while Kushina balled and unclenched her fists to keep silent and still.

 

“I cannot give him into your care.” Sarutobi finally declared, looking back at her regretfully “I need more information, and we don't know how Kakashi will fare with a Bijuu inside of him. There is a possibility that we will need to extract the Bijuu, if only for the safety of everyone else. It is our last resort, but I cannot exclude it as a possibility. And with the way he left, many are already pushing for it. His fathers shame is a burden on his honour and he has never been the most social. There is not a lot of support for him right now.”

 

It hurt to hear it even being said out loud. The possibility that Kakashi might simply be erased.

 

“He's loyal.” Kushina whispered brokenly “He's always been loyal to this village. You can't let other people's opinion sway you and condemn him without first giving him a chance.”

 

“I don't particularly want to. I want to help him as much as you do. Sakumo has been a good shinobi and I regret how things happened with him.” Sarutobi said, putting his pipe to the side “nevertheless, the issue at hand is that Kakashi is in a bad position and I do have to look out for the greater good. To a point, my hands are tied.”

 

He looked at her, folding his hands underneath his chin and leaning forward, elbows resting on the table “It depends on you and how the seal can be altered. There are other circumstances I will have to take into account too.”  
  
The troubled look on his face was anything but reassuring.

 

“I will do what I can.” Kushina said. She would fix this. She would find a way to fix this and then the Hokage would have to keep Kakashi alive.

 

“Promise me this: Don't give up on him.” she asked of her leader, desperation colouring her voice “Promise me.” It would destroy Minato to loose Kakashi, would break his faith in the village too.

 

For several seconds he was quietly judging her, a tense silence between them.

 

Finally: “Very well. I will see what I can do.” he agreed and Kushina felt relief crash over her. She plucked up the box on the table and closed it.

 

“Then I will not have to stage a coup d'etat!” she cheerfully agreed “Give me two hours with these, old man and they will be better than new. Call me if Kakashi is here and I will fix his seal up, you just wait and see!” her mind was spinning. She would have to see if she had any more readings on Bijuu-seals, as Kakashi's was likely vastly different than her own.

 

Her last view of Sarutobi was his head buried in his hands in exasperation. She chuckled, despite the circumstances and raced off, determination giving her renewed energy. She could be useful and if she could do anything to help Kakashi, she would give it her best and then some.

 

Anyone who wanted to get into her way to keep her family safe and sound could eat a Bijuu Dama.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My god. I thought I would finish Kushina's POV here. But nope, I still have to cover some time from her POV. Wow. How did she take over the story without my permission?? D:
> 
> Next up will be either Kushina again or Minato. Any preferences?
> 
> Sorry for the long wait. I wanted to post this chapter ages ago (like 5 days ago.....) but RL got in the way. 
> 
> Well, my holiday is over. Updates will come more irregularly now, sorry about that but I will try to update when I can. Sadly, I need to work or I won't have stuff to eat and if I don't eat you will not get any more chapters because I starved to death :( buh.
> 
> On a different note: I went crazy and opened up 3 new stories! Check them out and tell me your opinion :P


	31. Red-hot Habanero IV and the Yellow Flash

It was only due to her stubborn insistence and her proficiency with fuinjutsu that they even considered allowing her access to Kakashi. Kushina didn't know what she felt as she walked down the bare corridor of the base that usually held the most dangerous criminals but now held a twelve year old torture victim she considered her own family. Fury and helplessness? Fear and sorrow? Determination and trepidation? The corridor stretched, barely lit, and the ANBU keeping her company were silent. Everything here was quiet as they finally stopped at a heavy, iron door. Kushina could feel the chakra humming in the walls, the fuinjutsu layered into every inch of the cell even before she opened the door and stepped through, feeling their effect as it dampened her connection to her chakra. Her breath hitched as she looked at the simple cot in the middle of the room and the tiny form lying on it.

 

“... Hey,” Kakashi called weakly as their eyes met and Kushina flew to his side, torn between crushing her fist into his skull and scolding him for this mess or throwing her arms around him and weeping with relief that he was alive and here.

 

In the end she did neither, noting the bandages covering him and too scared of doing him harm. She didn't even know what exactly had happened to him. Him flinching away from her was the last straw, gouging into her like the claw of a demon, merciless and painful. Instead she reached out, stroking his brow with trembling fingers. She needed the contact to make this real, even if his bewildered gaze cut back to her.

 

“You're awake, dattebane! I'm so glad.” There was a lump in her throat and it was only years of practice that had her controlling her emotions and stopped her from breaking out into tears or something equally embarrassing.

 

“Why did you do that.” It wasn't really a question. She was already half convinced it was because of Rin. He had never given her reason to doubt his loyalty to the village before.

 

“Mah...” Kakashi sighed at the ceiling, looking much too unconcerned for her liking. “Instinct?”

 

“Instinct? That's what made you run?? You know the consequences such an action will have!”

 

She wanted to shake some sense into him. She was so scared of what would happen. Already people were talking, muttering about extraction and sealing as if they had a clue about what they were talking about. As if extraction didn't mean execution. As if a resealing was as easily done as finding a new cup for your tea-service at home that accidentally broke. Didn't they know what it would _mean?_ That another one of Team Minato would just... just...! The thought was unbearable. There was a trail of anger and helpless rage that pushed against her before she drenched it with practiced ease, feeling her prisoner subside sullenly. The lump in her throat stayed firmly lodged in place though.

 

Of course Kakashi knew what his actions meant. If anyone knew the rulebook inside out, it was the stoic little brat that seemed far too unconcerned about his own fate. Kushina wanted to cry. He was _twelve_!! He was just twelve years old and somebody stuffed a chakra construct into his body that had lived a millenium. She hadn't been much older than him, but she was an Uzumaki and she had been prepared for it for her whole life. Kakashi was twelve-

 

“Is Rin safe?”

 

Kushina's thoughts trailed off as she closed her eyes for a moment. Of course. She knew that Rin was the most likely reason Kakashi had run off for. It didn't make the situation better, but despite everything Kushina felt a sad fondness settle over her. Kakashi had never looked like he even wanted his teammates around... and now?

 

“She's as well as can be.” Kushina sighed. It would be cruel to deny him an answer after everything he had risked.

 

“Worried sick, over her idiot teammate,” she muttered, hands twitching with the need to do something. Whack Kakashi over the head maybe.

 

“That... that's good...” The sheer relief as he breathed the words out made tears prickle at Kushina's eyes.

 

“Idiot.” Her voice sounded a little choked and her hand carded through his hair again. She wanted to snatch him up and run, no matter how irrational it was. Her eyes flickered to the entrance, the heavy iron door. Impossible. Right outside were several ANBU guards and it was a mute point. Where would she run? Kakashi's voice snapped her attention back to him, probably for the better.

 

“I heard about an ambush planned on her... I couldn't not go.” His eyes were locked on the ceiling. “I promised Obito I'd look after her.”

 

Kushina's heart twisted. Even just hearing Obito's name... the little brat that she had adored with her whole being, the kind little boy...

 

“I've already abandoned her once too often,” Kakashi continued, and Kushina felt too choked up to interrupt him, to correct him. He didn't abandon anyone. Sometimes things just happened, things nobody could account for and it wasn't Kakashi's fault.

 

“Obito paid the price.” The hollow look in Kakashi's eyes nearly broke her. When had he become so transparent? His eyes slowly trailed to her, as if he was afraid of her reaction. As if she would hold him responsible the way he held himself responsible.

 

“I... I saw Obito.” His admission was quiet, almost too quiet if it wasn't for the utter silence in the cell.

 

“At the edge of the clearing.... I saw him, but he was..... he was dragged off.”

 

Clearing? But... but Obito had died in a forest, crushed beneath boulders of stone by one of those Iwa bastards. What was he- oh. Oh no. She knew the state Kakashi had been in when Minato had finally caught up, how very close to death he had been, how much pain due to the beast inside him.

 

“You... were in a lot of pain, Kakashi.” Kushina hated to be the one to correct him, to see the faint light in Kakashi's eyes dim, shutter as if a door he had opened was now closing in her face. “...and almost died.”

 

“I know.” Kushina winced at the dull tone of his voice, the hopelessness in it. Almost mechanical and removed from the situation. “It seemed real.”

 

“I just wanted to save him.”

 

Kushina's eyes burned. Her hands kept up the repetitive motion of carding her fingers through Kakashi's hair, trying to sooth a hurt that no healer would ever be able to find and fix. Finally unable to take it anymore, she rose to get some water. Discreetly she wiped away the one tear that nearly escaped her iron hold. She took a deep, shaky breath.

 

“Do you know what happened to you...?”

 

Listening to Kakashi's recollection was painful and so different from her own sealing. Hers was a honor. A duty she had willingly taken up.

 

She returned to his side, holding out the glass and helping him, feeling her body tremble with hate and other boiling emotions when she saw just how injured he really was, how painful just sitting up seemed to be.

 

His sealing was a violation. Something being attached to the very core of his being with no warning, no preparation, maliciously intended to not only harm him, but also his identity and his village, the very place Kakashi loved more than his life. When Kakashi pulled up his shirt to show her, Kushina's hands balled into fists. It was atrocious. The seal, mostly dissolved by now, was ugly, a strain to Kushina's eyes. She had always viewed fuinjutsu as something incredible, wonderful, and most of all: beautiful.

 

“Don't look at me like that.” Kakashi's eyes softened as he watched her “I don't regret going after Rin. If not for me, it would have been her sitting here.” There was a haunted look in his eyes and Kushina wanted to say that neither of the kids should have been in that situation. That nobody should have even tried to make them into a sacrifice against their will, with a seal that was barbaric and tattered, fraying even as it latched onto the souls of two different beings, sticking them together. An abomination.

 

“You don't know what it means... Kakashi!” Kushina choked out, shaking her head slightly from side to side. Not only having to live for the rest of his life with the monster attached to his soul, but also how people would view him with caution, how they would avoid and whisper and make everything ten times more difficult just because you were a jinchuriki. How people would watch for you to show some kind of weakness, see you as a weapon, kidnap and manipulate you for their own gain until you weren't sure whom to trust anymore. Until you bit any hand coming close for fear of what lay behind the kindness they showed you.

 

If not for those few, stubborn individuals in her life...

 

“Kakashi, they will try to get rid of you.” Kushina had to prepare him, to make him aware of what was going to happen next and how careful he would have to be, with his next steps, his words. He would have to be constantly aware and vigilant until he could see whom to trust. She knew he wasn't good with social interactions, but he would have to be if he wanted to survive this.

 

“You leaving the village like you did...” She shook her head, lips pressed together. Kushina needed him to understand. She couldn't lose him too. She couldn't watch them extract the Bijuu. Kakashi hadn't done anything wrong! All he had done was go after his teammate to help, they couldn't-

 

“Mah, already talking about extracting the Sanbi from me, aredo they?” Kushina blinked at the blasé words and utter boredom that dripped from Kakashi's words. Didn't he realize just how dangerous the situation was?!

 

“Kakashi!” she snapped, desperate to make him see the hazard to his continued existence. “This is serious! You have the Bijuu of another village in you, _after_ you ran away from Konoha!” _during wartime_ , was left unsaid. Kakashi winced lightly at her words, but his stare was mulish and stubborn as he replied.

 

“They put it in me with an unstable seal and a cursed seal on my heart forcing me back to Konoha, where the seal would have dissolved.”

 

Kushina's breath hitched. Just imagining it...

 

“Oh... kami.” Of course she had known that, but having it stated that bluntly in her face by the very victim of the plot...?

 

“They wanted the Sanbi to release in the village.”

 

“That's what I guessed, once I realized what happened. I ran into a kunai to keep that from happening, what more do they want?”

 

“What?!” Kushina fell to her knees, frantically lifting the shirt again to check over his injuries again. She knew he had been close to death but a kunai to the heart?! She only stopped when he hissed in discomfort, stilling the urge to kidnap him and put him in a room where nobody could harm him.

 

“It's fine, the Sanbi healed me.”

 

Kushina blinked, sure that she had misheard.

 

“The... the Sanbi healed you.” How?! The Kyuubi healed her too, but it certainly wasn't of his own accord, not really. Kushina didn't use his energy often, but she could draw on it if she was in need. It was too dangerous to depend on that though, too easy for him to slip her grasp if she tried to use his chakra regularly.

How Kakashi could nod with a smile to that was a mystery to her. She was still trying to overcome the horrible image of a Bijuu running rampant through their village.

 

“And that's why they would be stupid to extract the Sanbi. We get along pretty well right now. It's rare for a Jinchuuriki”

 

Getting along? With a Bijuu? Kushina blinked owlishly down at the kid. Was he delusional?

 

“Isobu says 'Hi' to Kurama. He also wanted the fur-ball to know that, and I'm quoting this, 'you really shouldn't give your host so much trouble. And work on your anger-management issues!'”

 

There was a roar, furious and deafening to her senses as chakra slammed against the barriers of her seal, making Kushina instinctively tighten her hold on her burden, pressing him back on the stone slab in her mindscape as she tried to process Kakashi's words. Isobu?? Kurama?? What was he talking about?

 

One didn't get along with a Bijuu. They were monsters, always struggling to escape, so full of rage and just waiting for a slip up, a chance to break out, to cause havoc.

 

…

 

Weren't they?

 

A few days later she brought Kakashi to his trial. She was proud how composed he was, how he handled the situation despite the stakes that put pressure like no other on Minato's student. No twelve year old should have to endure what Kakashi did and have to stand trial to fight for survival right after.

 

It was too much. Much too much and Kushina silently wondered how far Kakashi could bend before something broke. Her hand on his shoulder tightened, her eyes burning. Tears or determination, she wasn't sure. But she had the means to stay close to Kakashi, as a fuinjutsu-master and fellow Jinchuriki. Kakashi had handed her an opportunity, by declaring she was supposed to reseal the Sanbi into him and Kushina would take the chance and run with it.

 

She would drag Kakashi along, until he was back where he belonged.

 

She wouldn't lose another of her kids.

 

ε＝ε＝ε＝ε＝ε＝(ｏ・・)ｏ

 

Standing in front of the Sandaime again, Minato tried to keep his composure, to keep the anger bottled up and his face expressionless. Even if Minato loathed that another kid of his team had been pulled from him, this was still his Hokage. Raging and railing against his decision wouldn't give Minato any advantage. After all, honey caught more flies than vinegar and Minato could play the long game.

 

He would get Kakashi back, come hell and high water.

 

“You wished to see me, Hokage-sama?” Minato mentally winced at how flat his voice sounded. He tried not to feel guilty when he saw the Sandaime hunch in his chair, wearily, tired and old.

 

His pity withered and died when his thoughts wandered back to his imprisoned student.

 

“Kakashi's trial is over.” the Hokage told Minato, as if Kushina hadn't told him the moment she had returned, falling into his arms with relieved sobs as she recounted the trial.

 

Kushina would reseal the Sanbi into Kakashi. The details were still to be hashed out and Kakashi would stay imprisoned with chakra-suppressants and under heavy guard until a seal would be ready. The Hokage had agreed that Kushina would be allowed to consult with Kakashi on the seal, though the key to the seal would be held by the Hokage himself.

 

“I know.” Minato ground out. The trial was over, but Kakashi had still been pulled from his team.

 

“I will assign Kakashi to a new mentor, who will help him with his control.”

 

It was a bitter pill to hear that another would take over Kakashi's training.

 

“If it is training in control, I could-” Minato tried but was stopped when the Hokage raised a hand. There was regret in the old man’s face, but also steely resolve.

 

“Kakashi will not return to your care. You are to keep your distance.”

 

Minato's hands balled into fists, trembling at his side. Frustrated he glared at his leader. He took a few breaths until the rage subsided again.

 

“I- I do not understand why it is necessary.” Minato stated almost calmly, his voice tight with leashed emotions.

 

“Surely familiarity would be beneficial to Kakashi's progress. I know my student, I have trained him for years. He doesn't open up easily to others and putting that stress on top of everything else... what possibly could be gained from that?”

 

“...” The Sandaime leaned back with a heavy sigh, his hands picking up the kiseru and stuffing some kizami into the bowl. The Hokage lit the tabacco and took a deep breath, watching Minato and clearly choosing his words carefully.

 

“I'm not separating you out of spite, Minato.” He finally said, taking another drag and breathing out a trail of smoke that wafted between them. Minato felt himself stiffen at the hard look in the Sandaime's eyes.

 

“It's not to Kakashi's benefit, nor his detriment that I've decided to pull him from your team.” Putting the kiseru to the side, Hiruzen gravely folded his hands, elbows on the table and looked over his knuckles at his subordinate.

 

“It's for your sake.”

 

The words were like a hit that Minato hadn't seen coming, not in a million years.

 

“Mine?” he breathed out in disbelief. There was no way that separating Kakashi was for his sake. Anger stirred in him, aided by confusion.

 

“There are many eyes on you right now, Minato.” Hiruzen continued, “This was not how I wanted to tell you this, but recent events leave me little choice.”

 

Minato shook his head, trying to follow but unable to understand.

 

“I... I don't follow.” he sounded lost, even to his own ears, brow furrowed as he tried to make sense of what the Hokage wanted to tell him.

 

“I'm getting old, Minato.” The Sandaime's eyes were boring mercilessly into him “There are many voices voting for me to step down, and I agree. I've had my time and once this war is over, it is time I retire and someone new takes over the reigns. I want you to be my successor.”

 

Minato blinked. He felt a little detached, unsure if he had actually heard right.

 

“Me? Hokage?” In any other situation he might have happily accepted. But...

 

“What does that have to do with pulling Kakashi from my care?”

 

“As I said, there are many who are currently watching you. You will have new duties to attend to, should you accept, in preparation of taking over, leaving you little time to care for your students, let alone concentrate on actually teaching Kakashi in depth the way he would need you to.”

 

Again it felt like he had been punched, air whistling out of Minato.

 

“If that's the case.” Minato whispered with deadly calm settling over him. “Fuck the Hokage position. I most kindly refuse.”

 

Choosing between the position of Hokage and Kakashi as his student? There was no challenge in that. And yet, despite the cold fire burning low in the pit of his stomach, the Hokages sad, resigned expression left him shaken to the bones.

 

“Believe me, Minato, if it was that easy I wouldn't have bothered pulling Kakashi-kun from your team. I do know where your priorities lie.”

 

Minato felt a knot form in his throat, a feeling of being cornered against a wall rising up unbidden.

 

“The other candidates for the Hokage position are Danzo or Orochimaru.”

 

There was a boulder in his stomach, lying heavily and weighing him down so much that Minato almost thought his knees would give in. He stumbled forward two steps, blindly reaching for the chair and ungracefully sitting down. His mouth formed a firm line as his mind raced over the repercussions of either of the men becoming Hokage.

 

If Minato refused to become Hokage, he would lose Kakashi anyways a few months or – if he was lucky – years down the line. Maybe Kushina as well. There was no way Danzo wouldn't try to gain access to the Jinchuriki, to use them as he saw fit.

 

And Orochimaru... well, Minato didn't know exactly what he would do, but there was an unsettling feeling whenever he looked at the pale shinobi, something that made Minato's instincts flare up, his hairs raise as if in danger whenever he was close to him. Those cold, golden eyes glinted with malicious amusement only the snake-summoner was privy to.

 

Minato didn't trust Orochimaru either.

 

And the Sandaime was right. There was no way that the council would allow him to keep an unstable Jinchuriki under his care when his attention was split between his new duties. They should be glad that Kakashi was allowed to stay alive.

 

But if he became Hokage...

 

He would have to give Kakashi up, at least for some time. But he would be able to _get him back_.

 

“Now you understand.” Hiruzen muttered softly, the pipe back between his fingers, and fresh smoke curling in the air, upwards to the ceiling.

 

Minato closed his eyes, trying to ignore the frustration that burned them with unshed tears.

 

“Yes.” His voice broke.

 

Yes, he understood.

 

Yes, he had to give Kakashi up.

 

Yes, yes, and another damned yes.

 

He would become Hokage. His lifelong dream coming true, and Minato wanted to cry.

 

Just not the happy tears he had always imagined.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Belated Happy New Year guys! (ﾉ´ヮ´)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧
> 
> I'm sorry it took me so long for this update. I had a rough time, and while writing is a release for me, for stress, for sad moments, for pretty much anything... well, I kinda needed some time off from the fiction I started mostly to distract myself from what was happening.  
> Additionally I was not prepared for the Naruto fandom and there was this one plotbunny that got pregnant.... like five times. At least. So I started up a few (*cough* a lot) new stories if you are interested!
> 
> Anyways, still alive, still on this story even though my updates will come sporadically and in between whatever else catches my fancy :) But not forgotten!!  
>  
> 
> Thanks a lot to AKAwestruck for betaing this chapter :)


	32. Fading into Obscurity

Tsunade was quiet as she worked on his hands. Other medics had done their best, but their best couldn't compare to Tsunade's. While his hands had been healed to the best of their knowledge, Tsunade had let out an irritated huff before re-breaking his left hand with pinpoint precision to correct something that had started to grow back together in just slightly the wrong way. Thankfully she had the presence of mind to numb his nerves first.

 

While she concentrated on her work, especially on his left hand, Kakashi took his time to study her as she was now. In the future she had been his Hokage and later on had taken him under her wing to show him the ropes. She taught him what she had learned and what he needed to know to run the village. Her appearance might be slightly more youthful, though not by much, but she looked tired, her hair pulled back by her signature ponytails but... a little bit messier. As if she hadn't quite cared for her appearance. The war was already taking its toll on her.

 

When he looked at her, he could almost see the mirror image of her future overlapping the present past self he was confronted with. Maybe she looked a little bit younger than in the future, but the biggest difference was the indifference in her gaze. Brown, dull eyes without any spark of recognition when they settled on him. For her, he was a stranger now. A kid in over his head with more blood on his hands than in his entire body. He could see her hunched shoulders and the dark shadows underneath her eyes and wondered how long it had been since Nawaki died. How long it would be before Dan followed.

 

If only he knew the dates. But he only knew the circumstances that had led to Tsunade losing faith in the village and causing her to take Dan's closest relative and run as far away as she could.

 

“There you go, brat.” Tsunade muttered listlessly, the green light around her hands flickering and fading into nothingness. Kakashi felt his shoulders relax as he carefully tried to move his hand. It still felt stiff, but Kakashi was used to the after-image of a serious wound being treated and this was nothing new. At least it didn't hurt to move anymore, apart from the normal I-broke-my-hand-and-it-needs-to-heal kind of hurt.

 

“You will have to start therapy. I will oversee your progress, every now and then. Keep practising, but _**don't overdo it**_ or I will break your hand all over again.”

 

And Kakashi watched her hunched shoulders and felt a pang of regret at seeing the strong woman that stood so proud as Hokage reduced to a shadow of herself. It felt wrong.

 

“Mah. So if I _do_ overdo it, it's a date?”

 

He didn't even know where that came from. Clearly Tsunade wasn't expecting it from a twelve year old brat either for she blinked, looking a bit dumbfounded but more alive than the entirety of the time she spend treating him. That alone made it worth it, and if Kakashi had learned one thing from the future? It was being shameless.

 

“Don't get cheeky, kid.” Tsunade finally grumbled, clearing her throat. “You are years to early to take me out.”

 

Kakashi shrugged his shoulders, batted his eyelids exaggeratedly and put a hand to his chest with a mock hurt expression.

 

“How you wound me.” He deadpanned. “Healed, only to be slain right after.”

 

Tsunade raised an unimpressed eyebrow, but Kakashi could read a smile in her micro-expression due to years of knowing her.

 

“In my professional opinion, you will survive.” Tsunade drawled unimpressed. Packing her things and then turning to stick a finger in his face almost threateningly.

 

“Overdo it.” She challenged but Kakashi was relived to hear it sounding stronger, more alive. “And I will show you how long a medic can keep someone alive and conscious. I hear you are a quick student. Let's not test that, right?” Her accompanying smile was chilling. And yet there was something hidden behind her demeanour, something like thankfulness and relief. Maybe she had just needed someone to not... act like she would break at any moment. Kakashi knew the feeling and he knew it well.

 

Still, it wasn't an idle threat, coming from one of the most renowned healers their village could boast for that was equally known for her short temper. Kakashi shuddered. He was still amazed that she had managed to actually set his left hand back into resembling a hand. He had tried to avoid looking at it, but just moving it had hurt.

Meanwhile his right hand was still stiff, but much better off than his left one, since Rin had already started to treat it shortly after his injury occurred. It hadn't been left to wait for treatment quite as long, hadn't started to heal wrong and thus had less damage to repair.

 

“I have been lucky.” Kakashi said contemplatively to Tsunade as she took her bag, making her hesitate in leaving and making her looking back towards him in inquiry.

 

“I know that without you my hands might have been irreparably damaged. Thank you.”

 

Something in Tsunade's eyes flickered. Sadness warred with anger and she looked proud yet at the same time downbeaten. She seemed torn.

 

“You are a kid.” she finally muttered, looking down at the ground. “You never should have experienced that to begin with.”

 

“I'm shinobi.” Kakashi replied, but he knew that there was probably nothing he could say to make her change her opinion, not so soon after Nawaki died.

 

“I knew what I was getting into.”

 

Tsunade looked at him, studied him for long moments before letting out a tired sounding sigh.

 

“Did you?” she looked sad and resigned. Bitter as well, as if the thought of kids making a conscious decision to fight in a war was too much for her to bear. Her hand knocked on the door twice, waiting for the guards to open it and release her.

 

“Don't forget. I want you in for check-ups at least every two weeks.” she said as she stepped out.

 

“It's a date!” he cheerfully called after her and chuckled when she threw an irritated look over her shoulder, an embarrassed flush rising to her cheeks when the guard turned to her with a raised eyebrow. The door clanged close before he could hear what was being said. Pity.

 

( ･_\\\\)ﾉ-≒≒≒≒≒≒≒≒≒≒⁂

 

Kakashi felt uneasy as he walked between the Anbu that were to be his guard from his cell to wherever their destination was. He hid it well, but with his wrists still engulfed by the suppressant seals he felt incredible vulnerable. It left him more cranky than he remembered usually being, but then again it had been a long time since he had felt this helpless. Currently it seemed to happen more often as well, first with his capture and now with the idleness while he waited on the decision of what would happen in his future. The time in confinement didn't do anything to lift his spirits either, especially since apart from the meals and medics he didn't receive any more visitors. At least his injuries had been healed, leaving his hands a bit stiff and in need of practice to gain their full mobility back after the enemy had nearly crippled him beyond help, but at least they were back in working order and Kakashi was no stranger to hard work. He was lucky the enemy didn't chop any appendages off and Konoha still had some of the best healers available. Seeing Tsunade had been... a short moment of disorienting pain that stabbed him like a kunai into his chest. And he knew how that felt, so the comparison was quite accurate.

 

So many things he would love to do, to change, to prevent. If he had known he would land in the past, he could have prepared more, would have memorized the dates of when important things happened. As it was he cursed his memory. A genius he might be, copying jutsu left and right. His memory was quite good, eidetic even, his mind trained to remember even the smallest details. But even he felt time corrupt his knowledge. Things he had forgotten or simply not bothered to remember as he deemed them unimportant. All he could do was keep an eye on his precious people, an ear out for trouble and hope for the best and it left a sour taste in his mouth.

 

All of Konoha was precious. Hell, he was scared to change too much. What if something he did caused the future he knew to change so much that it would affect Naruto's generation beyond repair? It's not like he had a way to go back in time _again_ to fix anything he messed up now.

 

Kakashi heaved an aggrieved sigh and ignored the sharp glances his guards threw him.

 

Well. At least he was more or less healthy.

 

It was only Isobu's chakra that still caused the occasional wave of pain, unintentional as it was. Kakashi believed he was adapting to the chakra, but it was a very slow process and he didn't know if there even existed any method that would help the process along. If there was, nobody had told him and he liked to believe that Kushina would have said something by now.

 

Not that he had seen her since he had to speak for himself in front of the council and Hokage.

 

And that was why he was uneasy, stuck between familiar masks of ANBU members as they escorted him silently to the Hokage office. It was probably about time that they decided on his fate and while Kakashi was reasonably sure they wouldn't kill him... he wasn't entirely sure. That, and missing familiar faces as he was escorted made him more nervous than he had felt in a really long time.

 

He hadn't asked where he was taken when they had come to his cell. The direction they took was rather direct, even if they were moving underground. If anything, Kakashi knew the village like the back of his hand. Even if some things were hard to recall, especially due to any changes that had happened after the village destruction that had been caused by Pain, he still knew the village enough to tell where he was approximately taken.

 

And that was the Hokage tower. Rolling his shoulders Kakashi took a deep breath, ignoring how Tanuki was looking at him from the side. His guards were nervous and Kakashi guessed... he would have to get used to that. Again. He wasn't sure how much worse being a Jinchūriki would be. Worse than being the 'friend-killer'? Worse than the reputation he had earned himself as Hound, through bloody deeds that were never really spoken of, yet quiet voices still whispered of his quick, efficient and most of all merciless killings in the dark? Of the cold-hearted monster he had been, following his orders to the letter and his pray to the end of the world if necessary?

 

Looking at the big gate that was the entrance of the room the Hokage was in, Kakashi felt anticipation and apprehension in equal measure. One of his guards knocked gently on the wood, then pushed the door open and mentioned for Kakashi to enter. They stayed back, closing the door behind him and probably settling in to guard the door. He could still feel their lingering presences, but his eyes never strayed from the hunched over figure behind a towering stack of papers.

 

Same old, same old it seemed. Paperwork was every Hokage's worst nightmare.

 

“Ahh.” Sarutobi looked up, blinking tiredly but with a slight smile that helped Kakashi relax minutely. A smile was good. A smile meant Kakashi was not about to prematurely die.

 

“Kakashi-kun. It's good to see you, my boy. How are you doing?”

 

“Mah...” Kakashi shrugged easily, stepping a bit closer to the Hokage and trying to think how he used to act before, back when he was the stoic serious kid with the weight of the world on his shoulders and rules constricting his movement. It was a futile exercise, Kakashi knew, which is why he gave it up as a hopeless cause.

 

“You know how it is. Counting time, twiddling thumbs, enjoying the artificial light.”

 

Sarutobi chuckled, rubbing one of his wrinkled hands over his face. He looked like he hadn't slept in days, which was likely true with the ongoing war and Kakashi's own situation.

 

“Well, you do have a reputation of working yourself too hard, so maybe a vacation is exactly what you needed, my boy.” The irony of that being said by the clearly overworked man in front of him wasn't lost on Kakashi. A wave of amusement left his shoulders sagging down, until his posture was relaxed enough that he felt comfortable to take the seat that Sarutobi mentioned him to.

 

“We have a lot to discuss.” Sarutobi opened the topic directly, which Kakashi, who had been left in the dark for too long already, appreciated. “I'm sorry to say that I cannot allow you to return to Team Minato.”

 

Kakashi stayed quiet. He had hoped but... he had known it was unlikely that Minato would stay his sensei. Didn't mean that it didn't hurt, not after just getting him back.

 

“Ah.” Kakashi said, trying to swallow the lump that seemed to be suddenly stuck in his throat.

 

“What is going to happen to me?”

 

Sarutobi watched him for a moment, his kind old eyes holding sadness and resignation in them, but also a shrewdness that Kakashi knew was the cause for the long reign Sarutobi managed to lead the village for.

 

“First of all we will have to do a resealing. As per your wish, Kushina-chan will oversee the process. Jiraya-chan will also be called back and give some input.” Kakashi managed to withhold the grimace. He had hoped it would only be Kushina, but Jiraya was still better than any stranger. He could probably guilt-trip the man into going along with giving Kakashi a key to the 'cage'. Hopefully. Maybe. Otherwise he would find another way.

 

He wasn't looking forward to the resealing. The first sealing had hurt unlike anything he had ever experienced, but having a proper working seal would far outweigh the urge to avoid a repeat performance. He nodded in acquiescence.

 

“As for afterwards... you are going to need training.” That much had been obvious to Kakashi as well.

 

“As for your teacher, I will introduce you later.” That... was not what he had been hoping. But maybe it was too much to ask for Kushina, another jinrikisha's, to be his teacher. The council probably protested that suggestion heavily, not only on account of Kushina being compromised, but also to keep the Jinchūriki apart and from forming too much of an emotional dependency. Kakashi wryly thought that it was very likely a nightmare scenario for them if two Jinchūriki banded together. One was nearly unstoppable. Two? They could probably take over the world if they really wanted. But just thinking of the amount of paperwork had Kakashi cringing away from that thought.

 

Not that putting distance between them really helped, since Kakashi and Kushina already had a relationship due to Kakashi being on Minato's team for _years_ , but that likely didn't matter to them.

 

“The thing I wanted to talk to you about is... I do not want you to return to the regular team formations. Nor do I want you to become an apprentice.” Sarutobi leaned forward, putting his pen aside and steepling his fingers against each other. He looked serious, as he gazed at Kakashi over the table, a look that made Kakashi sit up straighter in response.

 

“I want you to join ANBU.”

 

Kakashi blinked. Then blinked again. That... wasn't actually as surprising as it probably should be. Itachi had been eleven when he had joined. An yet... Kakashi hadn't joined until Minato had become Hokage. About a year or two from now, so it wasn't much of a difference. But... it was a difference and Kakashi was curious as to why it was happening now. Just as he was sure that Minato likely didn't know about this plan.

 

“Why?”  
  
Sarutobi smiled again, leaning back a bit and rummaging in a drawer to take out his pipe, carefully stuffing it before using a little fire jutsu and taking a deep drag.

 

“You are an accomplished shinobi with much talent and the right mindset for not only infiltration and assassination. You are patient, dedicated, loyal. Most of all, I do trust you and... hm.” Sarutobi puffed away, his gaze a bit distant.

 

“You would do well in ANBU.” and yet, he sounded troubled. The time-traveler was sure that Sarutobi disliked making a child join, even though he found it necessary. And yet... he had not done it quite as early in Kakashi's original time-line.

 

“Is that the only reason?” he asked, voice neutral as he watched Sarutobi for clues. The Hokage looked back, mustering Kakashi from head to toe before sighing.

 

“No.” the old man answered with a small, joyless smile that quickly slipped off his face to make place for a rather grave look.

 

“To be frank with you Kakashi... your presence in this village is going to cause trouble. Maybe not today. Maybe not in a year. But sooner or later, the village that sealed the Sanbi in you will come knocking, asking where their missing Bijuu went.”

 

That... was entirely likely. Kakashi gave a slow, considering nod, thoughts already racing ahead and dropping a heavy weight on his shoulders. Sarutobi was trying to explain it to him slowly but Kakashi could already see where it was heading. He had been Hokage himself, he knew the politics more than a normal twelve year old, but even back then he had been a genius and wouldn't have taken long to clue in as to what Sarutobi was hinting at.

 

“In our best case, they will be willing to wait until it's time to reseal the Sanbi. Or maybe they will never know what happened to it. It depends if any enemy nin made it back to their village to report what happened. In the worst case though... they will tell the other villages. Maybe they will say 'Konoha is trying to amass power... they took our Bijuu and now they have two... will you help us, before they grow too strong?'”

 

It would be Konoha's word against that of Kiri. And with the Bijuu in Konoha, they would be hard pressed to prove their innocence. It was simple as that and Kakashi had read reports about the current state of Konoha in preparation of becoming Hokage. Of how they had won, had shown a strong font to the enemy but another war would have crippled them. Could Kakashi really afford that, especially equipped with the future knowledge of what was going to happen? His attention turned back to Sarutobi, who was a steady presence anchoring him in the here and now, even as he ripped the safety away and left Kakashi adrift in a storm. If he had been a normal twelve year old he might not have seen the heavy shadows underneath the old man's eyes, or the brittle calm that belied the regret and resignation that were buried deep in his leader. Sarutobi was only the messenger after all. Kakashi was a victim of his own circumstance.

 

“Or maybe they will demand for the Bijuu to be given back... and I don't think they would care if the Bijuu was returned to them in a Jinchūriki or container.”

 

It didn't need to be said that either way, Kakashi wouldn't live long. They wouldn't risk having a Jinchūriki with loyalty to another village in the middle of their own. Kakashi felt a little sick. It wasn't entirely something he hadn't thought of on his own but having it laid out as facts was still a hard pill to swallow.

 

“So...” Kakashi whispered, mind jumping from one scenario to the other but one thing he was sure about: “You will have me disappear.”

 

Sarutobi smiled. Pained and resigned and ever so kind.

  
“So I will make you disappear into obscurity. A masked face in a crowd of masked faces.”

 

_Until you are strong enough to hold your own. Too useful to Konoha to simply get rid of. Until they can't demand your execution, without risk of you defecting._

 

That also was left unsaid, but to Kakashi who was trained to listen to the words between the lines, it didn't need to be spelled out. Nobody would drag a competent Jinchūriki back against their will, it was simply too much trouble, the destruction he would be able to cause if he managed to sync with the Bijuu...

 

Well. He couldn't say he would enjoy going back to Anbu, not now that he knew what it entailed and how long his service would likely last. Maybe even longer than in the future and he barely managed to hang on to his sanity the first time. Even that was debatable. Kakashi took a deep breath, trying not to show how affected he was as memories of silent and merciless killings rose closer to the surface, making the water in his mind-scape ripple uneasily, colouring it a deep red as memories were stirred up before he managed to calm it and it smoothed over once more, hiding his darkest secrets deep below. He wasn't a kid anymore. He knew what was coming. Some things that had thrown him the first time would barely faze him now. Not with what he had seen, lived through and experienced. Still waters are deep.

 

“Alright.” his voice was firm as he looked into Sarutobi's eyes. “I'll join Anbu.”

 

It's not like he had a choice. The Hokage wasn't asking him if he wanted to join, and Kakashi was well aware that Sarutobi likely had as little say in this as he had. Kakashi could even say that he would probably make the same call in Sarutobi's stead, so it was hard to hold a grudge over that.

 

“Who is to be my teacher then?” Kakashi thought of his old comrades, of who was currently in ANBU and would show him the ropes. He was a little early this time, so it was likely there would be differences.

 

“Ah. That.” Sarutobi's eyes held a flinty calculating look in them, a bare second as Sarutobi took another drag from his pipe “He should be here soon. Actually-”  
  
A knock on the door interrupted him and Sarutobi nodded.

  
“Ah. Right on time.” the Hokage muttered and Kakashi looked back as the door opened. Even though he needn't have. The harsh thunk of the walking stick would have been enough of a clue to him.

 

“Hiruzen.” Danzo greeted, gaze cutting to Kakashi for a short moment but barely acknowledging him. Meanwhile Kakashi was taking deep, even breaths.

 

Alright. This was... not expected. Actually...

 

Nope. This was something he had least expected. Kakashi tried not to frown, thrown by the surprise. If anything he would have thought that Sarutobi would do anything to keep Danzo from grabbing more power. Handing him a Jinchūriki on a silver platter... was not exactly going along with those plans. Kakashi tried to think back, desperately trying to remember if maybe Sarutobi still trusted his old teammate at this point in time. He came up blank. The years he was currently living in were spend mostly with dealing with himself, unable to look further with his own issues threatening to overwhelm him.  
  
Kakashi had the feeling that his next years would be memorable and... quite demanding.

 

“Danzo-sama.” He greeted neutrally, keeping the emotions off his face. If his posture had tensed, nobody would be able to tell. But the change of his tone from open to closed off and distant was probably quite obvious to the Hokage. Hiruzen's eyes twinkled a little, amusement dancing in them and Kakashi barely managed to control his facial expression into bland disinterest.

 

“Is he ready then?” Danzo didn't even spare him a second glance, looking straight at Hiruzen with gruff expectancy.

 

“Quite so, quite so.” Sarutobi mumbled around the pipe. “You will have to have someone take him to the headquarters.”

 

Kakashi tried not to feel like cattle brought to slaughter. Or a dog changing owners.

 

“Kakashi-kun.” Hiruzen turned to him “Danzo will be largely responsible for your training. Of course it will only start once your seal has been fixed. You will however be outfitted and introduced to the other ANBU and your future team quite soon.”  
  


“Yes, Lord Hokage.” Kakashi stood up, angling his head down while his thoughts drifted through his mind at lightning speed.

 

“You will receive your schedule at the headquarters. To give you a rough summary, you will train under Danzo for five days during the weak. Once a week Kushina-chan will train with you and check on your seal. One day you will be given off to train on your own or spend the time otherwise at your leisure, provided there are no missions. You are, however, to keep out of sight and not draw attention to yourself.” Translate: Keep yourself out of the public's eye and best don't interact with your usual crowd.

 

Ah. Yeah, couldn't exactly hide the body if it was still running around making friends. Kakashi eye-smiled and wondered if he could break into Hiruzen's office after sundown to burn his secret stash of porn, rearrange the office a bit and maybe steal the pipe until such a time Hiruzen deserved a reward.

 

Then he reluctantly reminded himself that he shouldn't treat the Hokage like one of his dogs.

 

“Danzo will also be responsible for housing you. I know it is much to ask, but you are to evict your apartment. The less is known about you, the better.”

 

…

 

Didn't mean he wouldn't do it anyways.

 

For now Kakashi was only left with one answer, even as he stood and bowed at the dismissal.

 

“Yes, Lord Hokage.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got a few reviews that got me relly pumped up to finish the chapter, big thanks to all of you who took the time to leave a review, reminding me to sit down and take my mind off things and delve into this story instead.  
> And another big thank you to the ever-present [atomicmuffin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/atomicmuffin/pseuds/atomicmuffin/works?fandom_id=13999) because she valiantly endures me spamming her scenes at all times and helps me bounce off ideas just by being there :P
> 
> There you go! Kakashi is not getting executed, awesome, right?? :D
> 
> Also: [Zoanzon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zoanzon/pseuds/Zoanzon) totally called it :P Danzo is Kakashi's new teacher. (And Kushina, but mostly Danzo.)
> 
> No clue as to when the next chapter will be out, you know me. It's either a spamfest or a drought... ♡〜٩( ˃́▿˂̀ )۶〜♡

**Author's Note:**

> My writing Playlist: [RavenShira on Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/user/ravenshira/playlist/47HMTQ6PYHsSOTOPMMw58Y?si=0MFItgY4T3OROifuogDYzA)
> 
> Honestly... I have no clue where I am going with this. I've just read a little too much Naturo fanfictions lately and was kinda missing something and here we are.
> 
> I've got a few general ideas but no real end so far. No idea if I will ever get to finish this, as I don't even know myself how to finish this D: Soo... I guess if there is people interested in it, I will give it some more thought :)
> 
> As always I love to hear your thoughts, feelings and death-threats.


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